Global News Podcast - Robert Prevost becomes first American pope - special episode

Episode Date: May 8, 2025

The new pope is Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV - the first American pontiff to be elected leader of the Catholic Church. Hear from our correspondent in Rome, as well as reaction from around the world.

You're listening to a special edition of the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service. Hello, I'm Julia McFarlane and we're recording this at 1830 Hours GMT on Thursday the 8th of May. We have a pope and he's the first American pontiff to lead the Roman Catholic Church. We'll explore the background of Robert Prevost, who becomes Pope Leo XIV. Let's start in the Vatican, where Cardinals have elected the first American Pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church. Cardinal Robert Prevost from Chicago has taken the name Pope Leo XIV. This was the announcement in Latin by French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti. Announcement of the Gaudium Manium. Abemus Papam

Eminentissimum, Acre Verendissimum Dominum Dominum Robertum Franciscum, Sancte Romana Ecclesiae Cardinalem Prevost And the cardinal said, we have a pope. Shortly afterwards, the new pope took to the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in front of more than 40,000 worshippers. Speaking in Italian, the newly elected Pope Leo XIV addressed the crowd, sharing a message of peace. May the peace be with all of you. Brothers, sisters, dear friends, this is the first greeting of Christ resurrected, the Good Shepherd who has given life for the flock of God.

I would also like this greeting of peace to enter into our house in order to reach all our families, your families, to all people, wherever you are, to all people, to all of our earth. May peace be with you. Pope Leo especially paid tribute to his predecessor Francis. Our correspondent Mark Lowen was in St Peter's Square when the new pontiff emerged. It was just an extraordinary moment because actually I was on air for the BBC World Service just saying that we hadn't got any smoke so it suggested that the popes had not reached a decision and then suddenly out of the blue at about seven minutes past 6 p.m. Italian time, this almighty cheer went up as the Sistine Chapel chimney started billowing smoke and

everybody realized it was white and then the bells of St. Peter's Basilica chimed to confirm that it was indeed white smoke and this square square where I am now, which was packed with tens of thousands of people, just became so emotional. There were cheers, there was applause, there were people, little kids sitting on the shoulders of parents to watch this moment, that feeling that they were witnessing a historic moment for the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion followers. And then, once again, expectation as we waited and we

turned our gaze from the Sistine Chapel chimney a little bit to the left to the balcony of the glorious 16th century St Peter's Basilica, where the red curtains were closed and we waited for the next Pope to come out. And then as Cardinal Mamberti of France came out and announced him, and announced the first ever American Pope, the first ever North American Pope, but a man who also has Peruvian nationality and has spent so much time in Latin America, in a sense kind of uniting the global North and the

global South. Just a moment of real ecstasy and jubilation here on St Peter's Square. Mark, you mentioned that people feel like there is a sense of history and a historic new papacy in many ways. You mentioned he's the first pope from America, but this has also been the most diverse conclave in many years. We're seeing pictures of people around the world carrying flags. There have never been so many cardinals from countries around the world as there has been in the conclave this week. Indeed, it's the biggest ever conclave with 133 cardinals and the most geographically diverse with cardinals from 70 different countries. So many of us thought that this could drag on for another day or two,

possibly into Friday or even the week, or not Saturday, because if it had been inconclusive at the end of Friday they would have retired for a day of prayer on Saturday. But that's all past history now because we know that it was on the second day of the conclave that the Cardinal electors found their man. They reached 89 votes, a two-thirds majority in the cardinal electors, and they chose Robert Francis Prevost. He was born in Chicago, but he was Bishop of Chiclayu in Peru and spent a lot of his

time in Peru. So as I say, he's got that kind of Latin American feel to him as well. A man who I think many people feel will kind of be a continuity from Pope Francis in terms of his views. He is seen as a reformer to a large extent. He's very close to Pope, late Pope Francis's views on the environment, his outreach to the poor and to migrants. And that was really a theme of his inaugural address here on St Peter's Square as he came out to the cheers and the delight of the tens of thousands of people here. He talked about the word that really was most often in his speech was peace. That is so important in

the world in which we live at the moment with wars raging in Gaza and Ukraine and in parts of Africa and elsewhere. This is a pope who clearly will want his papal message, his first papal message to be defined by peace, by humility, by dialogue, talking about the need to walk together to build a church of dialogue. He broke into Spanish at one point and made a reference, a shout out to Chiclayu, the city of which he was bishop in Peru. That got a lot of cheers of course from the Spanish speaking people here on St Peter's Square. So now we have a 267th Pope and it is a very, very historic moment. And that was our correspondent Mark Lowen among the crowds in St Peter's Square.

So how did the day unfold? The conclave is an ancient process which follows centuries-old conventions. This is the moment white smoke appeared from a chimney in the roof of the Sistine Chapel, shortly after 6 o'clock Italy time, signalling the election of the new pontiff. Tens of thousands of worshippers in St Peter's Square broke into applause at the sight of the smoke and waved flags as they watched it billowing across the blue sky of Rome. And the bells of St Peter's Basilica rang out. Just over an hour later, the name of the new pope was announced.

So how did the news go down in St Peter's Square? Craig is from America and was watching when Pope Leo XIV emerged. He says he could barely contain his emotions. The fact that the Cardinals chose Robert Prevost, making him the first American pontiff, has surprised the world. Our North America editor, Sarah Smith, has this reaction from Washington, D.C. We saw Donald Trump, the president,

congratulating him, saying that it's an honor to realize that he will be the first American pope. What excitement, what a great honor for our country, he said, and mentioned that he looked forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. So Donald Trump is celebrating what I think a lot of Catholics here would think, a very, very significant moment, the first American Pope. Something of a surprise, because Americans were always considered to be at a significant disadvantage and very unlikely to be chosen as the new pontiff. But now that we have an

American one I imagine that we'll be great celebrating here in America. And what was, or do we know anything about Cardinal Prevost's relationship with the members of the American government or with Donald Trump or with JD Vance, the Vice President? Well interesting, JD Vance of course is a devout Catholic who quite often talks about his faith when he's talking about politics. But Cardinal Proust, as he was at the time, has been on social media criticising the Vice President directly when he was using the Bible to back up Trump administration immigration policies for instance he was he was rebuked and criticized by the Cardinal for that so he's somebody who

certainly in his previous role was more than happy to speak out when he saw the administration doing something he didn't agree with especially when using Christian teachings to try and justify their policies so it would be very very interesting to see if he continues in that vein because of course as the first American Pope criticism of what the administration is doing would be that much louder, land that bit harder here in America as a result of him having been chosen. Our North America editor Sarah Smith speaking to Mariam Mushiri. So how are leaders across the world reacting? Our Europe regional editor

Danny Eberhard explains. We've heard the congratulations from President Trump. There's also been an excited reaction in Peru. Pope Leo XIV spent a long time in Peru. He was the bishop of Chiclayo and he's actually also a naturalised Peruvian. So the Peruvian press has been making a fuss of the fact that he's also the first Peruvian pope as well as the first American. And from European leaders, we've heard from Georgia Maloney, the Italian prime minister,

she says, in a time marked by conflict and unrest, his words from the Lodge della Benedizione, which is the balcony overlooking St. Peter's Square, are a powerful call for peace, brotherhood and responsibility, a spiritual legacy that follows the path traced by Pope Francis and that Italy looks at with respect and hope. Other European leaders, such as the Polish president Andrzej Duda, Poland obviously a very big Catholic nation, has called it a deeply moving moment. He makes reference to Pope John Paul II, who was Polish, and the deep bond of spiritual

unity that exists between Poland and the Papacy. And he says, please accept the assurance of the readiness of the Republic of Poland to further strengthen these unique bonds in the name of shared values, responsibility for the common good and strengthening of peace in the world. Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission, says that she hopes that Leo XIV's papacy is guided by wisdom and strength as he leads the Catholic community and inspires the world through his commitment to peace and dialogue. Emmanuel Macron, the President of France, has called it a historic moment and has addressed a

fraternal message to him and Catholics so that the pontificate brings peace and hope. Elsewhere we've heard from President Vladimir Putin who has also sent his congratulations. He hopes for the development of constructive dialogue between Russia and the Vatican under the new Pontiff. Obviously under Pope Francis there was a very difficult relationship because Pope Francis didn't name Russia and condemn Russia by name for the war in Ukraine, but made it very clear that he opposed that war. And in Africa there's also been some response. There was obviously talk before the election of Leo XIV that perhaps an African may become Pope. So President William

Ruto of Kenya has sent his congratulations. And to give you a flavour of that, he says, May your papacy be a shining light of love, hope and compassion. May it uplift the poor, give voice to the voiceless, heal divisions and steadfastly champion peace, justice and the sanctity of human dignity around the world. Danny Aberhard. So it took Cardinals just four rounds of vote to elect Robert Prevost as the first American Pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church. And as our correspondent in St Peter's Square, Mark Lowen, explains, the announcement came as quite a surprise. He wasn't seen as one of the top two or three candidates among us journalists,

Julia, but he was thought of as papabile, as the Italians say, which is the word meaning a possible pope. And so luckily we had a little profile of him among all the Cardinals whom we had profiled. He's 69 and yeah, in Cardinal terms, that is relatively young to be chosen as Pope. I mean, Francis was 76 when he was chosen in 2013. So, you know, towards the end of the 60s,

I mean, he's at that kind of sweet spot, I suppose, for Cardinals where he's not too young, not too old. It could be quite a lengthy papacy if Pope Leo XIV remains in good health. So, you know, the cardinals had to decide who they wanted and potentially for the long haul. I can hazard a guess at what is the number one Google search this evening around the world, as everyone frantically tries to find out more information about who is leading 1.4 billion Catholics around the world. Mark, what will this new pope be doing this evening and in the coming days? I imagine he won't be able to visit his favourite restaurant in Rome for quite some time.

I doubt it. I mean the lights are on in St Peter's Basilica now and the curtains are drawn so I'm sure he is resting whether it be in the rooms there on the top of the basilica or whether he is resting in the papal study. And on Sunday at noon will be his first angelus prayer. That is the prayer that the popes give to the audience here on St Peter's Square every Sunday. It is a prayer that is usually given from the window of the papal study. So that is what we are expecting on Sunday. What he has in plan for tomorrow, we don't know. Maybe a day of rest after this intense moment, the conclave. We

will never know exactly what happened and how many votes he got because of course it's such a secretive process but at least we know that he was elected after the fourth vote getting the necessary two-thirds majority, 89 votes among the cardinal electors, 133 of them deciding it was time for the first time for an American pope. Mark Lowen in the Vatican for us. first time for an American pope. Mark Lowen in The Vatican for us. And that's all from us for now, but there will be a new edition of the Global News podcast later.

If you want to comment on this podcast or the topics covered in it, you can send us an email. The address is globalpodcastatbbc.co.uk. This edition was mixed by Rebecca Miller and the producer was Isabella Jewell. The editor is Karen Martin. I'm Julia McFarlane. Until next time, goodbye.