Cardinals from 70 different countries last evening elected one of their own, Robert Prevost, 69, as head of the Catholic Church, becoming the first American Pontiff.
The former Archbishop of Chiclayo in Peru has adopted the papal name Pope Leo XIV.
“May peace be with all of you,” BBC quoted him as having said to thousands of people that gathered below the St Peter’s Square balcony in Vatican.
He also thanked the cardinals who elected him during a conclave that lasted two days.
Said the Pontiff: “We can all walk together towards that homeland God has prepared for us. A special greeting to the Church of Rome.”
Before his appearance, a white smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel chimney and the bells of St Peter’s rang out, signalling that the 133 cardinals had elected the new Pope.
Crowds erupted into cheers in St Peter’s Square, and there was a feeling of jubilation amongst the huge crowd which waited for the process for the past two days.
The white smoke came after the black smoke on Wednesday evening and earlier yesterday, that signalled that there was no pope elected during the two election processes.
The conclave convened on Wednesday.
The new pope needed two-thirds of the vote to become the next leader of the 1.4 billion global Catholic community.
Pope Leo XIV succeeds Pope Francis who died of stroke after an “irreversible cardiocirculatory collapse” on April 21 this year.
Pope Francis, born in Argentina in 1936 as Jorge Mario Bergoglio, was elected Pope in 2013 replacing Pope Benedict XVI who resigned citing advance age.
Pope Farncis’ funeral was attended by about 200 000, according to the Vatican.
