Pope Leo XIV walks in the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, May 9, 2025. Vatican Media/Francesco Sforza Handout via REUTERS
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - As U.S. Cardinal Robert Prevost realized during the secret conclave that he might be elected the next Catholic pope, he put his head in his hands at the daunting prospect of leading the 1.4-billion-member Church, a cardinal said on Friday.
New Jersey Cardinal Joseph Tobin, one of the other 132 clerics locked inside the Sistine Chapel with Prevost for the conclave, said he looked at the future pope during one of the last ballots.
