Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States, appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. REUTERS/Stoyan Nenov/File Photo
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - Cardinal Robert Prevost may be the first person from the U.S. to become the head of the Catholic Church but his surprising election by the world's cardinals as Pope Leo XIV probably had less to do with his birthplace than his former workplace.
Prevost, a relative unknown on the world stage, spent two decades as a missionary in Peru and became a senior Vatican official and a cardinal only in 2023.
