The first American Pope

In a relatively short conclave Cardinals have elected Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th successor of Saint Peter as the Bishop of Rome and supreme pontiff.

Ten facts about the new Pope:

• He is the first American Pope. American has the 4th largest number of Catholics in the world after Brazil, Mexico and the Phillipines.
• He is the first Pope from an English speaking country since Adrian IV of England in 1154.
• He grew up in Chicago and was a priest there but was posted to Peru where he became Bishop of Chiclayo
• He was only made a Cardinal in 2023
• He is only 69 years old, considerably younger than the two Popes before him
• He speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, and can read Latin and German
• He has worked as a Maths teacher
• He was head of the influential Vatican Dicastery for Bishops which advised the pope on bishop appointments globally.
• He is an Augustinian friar and was prior general of the worldwide order
• His father was a US Navy veteran of WWII