Robert Francis Prevost On Thursday the 267th Pope was chosen by 133 cardinals to lead the Roman Catholics of the world. The first pope from the United States he chose the name Leo XIV.
This is what about the new pope, how he was chosen and the problems with which he will be confronted as the successor to Pope Francis, who died last month at 88.
Who is the new Pope?
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and served for two decades in Peru, where he became bishop and a naturalized citizen and then rose to lead his international religious order. Until the death of his predecessor, Pope Francis, he held one of the most influential Vatican posts, which ran the office that bishops selects and manages worldwide.
A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he looks like Francis in his dedication to the poor and migrants and to meet people where they are. Last year he told the official news website of Vatican that “the bishop should not be a little prince in his kingdom.”
He has spent a large part of his life outside the United States. In 1982 at the age of 27 he obtained a doctorate in Canon Law at Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. In Peru he was a missionary, parish priest, teacher and bishop. As leader of the Augustinians, he visited orders all over the world. He also speaks Spanish and Italian.
Who has chosen the new pope?
Francis’ successor was selected in A conclave That started on May 7. Cardinals, known as the ‘princes of the church’, rank just below the Pope in the Roman Catholic Church; Together they are known as the College of Cardinals. There are currently 252 cardinals. Only those younger than 80 are eligible for voting, and there are 135 of them, the largest number in the history of the church. Pope Francis mentioned around 80 percent of them.
When a pope dies or decreases – which is unusual – the college chooses a successor. The cardinals released repeated votes until there is a two -thirds majority. After each mood, the ballot papers are burned in a stove, along with an additive that produces a color. The smoke is released by a chimney that can be seen from St. Peter’s Square, where crowds usually come together to watch and wait. If a mood ends without a two -thirds majority, the smoke is black. When a decision is made, The smoke is white.
How long does it take to choose a new pope?
The duration of papal conclusions has been greatly varied over the centuries. Since 1900 this has been the fifth pope that is chosen in two days.
The longest conclave at that time lasted 14 ballot papers, lasted five days and produced Pope Pius XI in 1922. Francis was chosen After two days of votes.
The shortest conclave, the election of Pope Pius XII in 1939, took three ballot papers. But it has not always been that fast: the conclave that ended with the election of Pope Gregory X on 1 September 1271 lasted two years, nine months and two days.
What are the most important issues in the Catholic Church?
The cardinals had to decide whether to choose a pope who will follow the path of openness and inclusion of Francis or choose a pope who will forge another. During his 12-year-old pontificate, Francis made milestone statements that encouraged liberals, including allowing the blessing of people in trade unions of the same sex and the elevation of his voice for migrants.
The cardinals who choose the pope sometimes look ideologically polarized Just as many secular voters around the world. Many conservative Roman Catholic leaders did not agree with Francis.
But the typical departments between progressives and conservatives do not neatly match the ideological battles in the Vatican and the wider church. There are complex debates about the role of women and LGBTQ Catholics in the Church, or priests must be allowed to get married, ask responsibility for sexual abuse by clergy and other divisions.
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