White smoke billowed from the Vatican this morning, signaling that a new leader of the Catholic Church had been elected. 

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States will be the Catholic Church’s 267th leader and the first ever American-born pontiff. 

Prevost, 69, will take the name “Pope Leo XIV.” 

Born in Chicago, Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1981. He ministered in his hometown of Chicago and later in Trujillo Peru before Pope Francis appointed him archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru in 2014. 

The previous pope Leo XIII, elected pope in 1878, is credited with laying the foundation for what is now known as Catholic Social Teaching and the concept of justice for workers and dignity for all. Likewise, Prevost is known for his humility and pastoral approach to social issues. 

Generally known as a centrist, Prevost’s approach has also been compared to that of Pope Francis. He is known for outreach to the poor and working class. 

As he stepped out onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the new pontiff was met with cheers and cries from the hundreds of thousands of Catholics and onlookers gathered in Vatican city to usher in this new papal era. 

“May peace be with you,” he said in Italian. 

This week, 133 cardinals who assembled for the papal conclave chose a new pope in just one day and 33 minutes.

The new Pope Leo XIV will lead a flock of 1.4 billion Roman Catholics worldwide. 

“This is the peace of the risen Christ. A peace that is humble and perseverance for all,” he said to the crowd. 

His mother, Mildred Martinez Prevost, is a ‘double demon’ DePaul graduate. His father Louis M. Prevost also graduated from DePaul in the late 1940s with a bachelor’s in education. 

By all accounts, the new pope is a Chicago White Sox fan. 

Editor’s note: A previous version of this story said Prevost was a Cubs fan. The DePaulia regrets this grave error.