69 year old First American Pope Francis Robert elected by Conclave against Nigeria’s Cardinal Peter Okpalaeke

First American pope: Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States has been selected as the next pope, the first American pontiff in history. He will be known as Pope Leo XIV. In his first remarks as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he called for peace and paid tribute to the late Pope Francis to a roaring crowd.

Prevost, a 69-year-old from Chicago, is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and served as bishop in Peru. He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis’ reforms.

There were 133 voting cardinals and any one of them needed two-thirds of the vote to become the next pope. White smoke billowed above the Sistine Chapel earlier this afternoon signaling the selection of a new pontiff. Take a look at how the voting process worked.

Vatican correspondent says Leo was a “very thoughtful person” when he met him when he was a cardinal

Christopher Lamb, CNN’s Vatican correspondent, said when he met the new Pope Leo XIV when he was a cardinal, he came across “a very thoughtful person, a very measured person.”

“I thought today he seemed, you know, overjoyed in some ways and sort of had received the grace of the office,” Lamb said, shortly after the pope made his first remarks on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica today.

Lamb said Leo appeared to give careful thought to what he would say and what his first message to the world would be. This differs from Pope Francis, who would “speak off the cuff more,” he said.

“He’s more of someone who wants to prepare before he speaks, but what he says has a very strong impact,” Lamb said.