Leo is now tied for the fourth most common name chosen by popes, along with Clement. Only John, Gregory and Benedict have proven more popular.
But we haven’t had a Pope Leo in more than a century.
The last Pope Leo was Leo XIII, who was born in French-occupied Rome in 1810. He served as pope from 1878 until his death in 1903, making his 25-year papacy the fourth longest in the church’s history.
Leo XIII is remembered as a pope of Catholic social teaching. He wrote a famous open letter in 1891, reflecting on the technological changes wrought by the Industrial Revolution and its impact on workers.
In choosing to revive the name, Leo XIV may be signaling the priorities for his papacy.
The first Pope Leo, who served in the fifth century, is known as “Leo the Great,” and is remembered for persuading Attil
72 Comments
xeromal
I'm not a catholic but I decided to watch the new Conclave movie as well as a Tasting History by Max Miller to learn a little bit about it. Very interesting but I'd love a historical movie on some of the past conclaves when the pope managed a standing army.
Edit: The Max Miller video was about the baby back ribs cooked in proto-bbq sauce made from grapes that was eaten by a conclave.
diego_moita
The correct title should be "Habemus Papam".
antognini
The field of candidates in this conclave was relatively open compared to the past few conclaves, so it is a little surprising that the cardinals were able to come to a consensus by the fourth ballot. That suggests that one of the initial front runners (likely Parolin or Tagle) was able to generate momentum early on and get the 2/3 majority pretty quickly. But we'll see in about 30 minutes if the cardinals have surprised us all with someone completely different!
chuckreynolds
Theo Vonn walks onto balcony…. lol
blensor
I wonder if there is any other event in recent history that is communicated as quickly to as many people as the fact that a new pope has been elected.
I was out on the streets when the church bells started ringing here in Vienna as must have all around the globe where there are catholic churches
dfxm12
Is it Pizzaballa?
freetime2
The pope is not a subject that typically interests me, but I must admit that I find announcing a decision with changing smoke color rather delightful. I wonder how long ago that started.
andrepd
New pope: https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/cardinals/robert-franci…
mongol
An American pope!
elorm
Not a catholic but I kept a tab on the process because the Catholic church seemed to lean towards a very conservative candidate and i was interested to see how it pans out. Turns out we have an American Pope and he wasn't even a top contender.
nickthegreek
"Whereas Francis said, “Who am I to judge?” when asked about gay clerics, Cardinal Prevost has expressed less welcoming views to L.G.B.T.Q. people.
In a 2012 address to bishops, he lamented that Western news media and popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel.” He cited the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”"
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/05/02/world/americas/pope-candi…
_bin_
American pope! So happy to hear this. Congratulations to Leo XIV!
chirau
I am sure a certain somebody is going to claim credit for bringing the papacy home to America to make it great.
Boogie_Man
The prevailing wisdom has been proven wrong on this occasion. He is very much a continuation of Francis's school of thought in spite of the "fat Pope thin Pope" wisdom, and he is an American who has been elected Pope, which was almost unthinkable because of America's economic, political, and mass media domination of the western world.
Very unexpected
collinmanderson
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Leo_XIV
HughParry
Posted on the other thread as I thought it was pretty interesting:
>Roughly 0.5% odds on him on polymarket before he was announced
martinclayton
What happens if Charlie Stross meets the Pope?
lihaciudaniel
Anyone interested in st. malachi prophecy of popes, one should go on google books to find it and read it.
In essence, it foretold last pope was francis, as peter the roman….
nathell
From [0]:
> Rev. Robert Prevost bears responsibility for allowing former Providence Catholic H.S. President and priest Richard McGrath to stay at the high school amidst sex abuse allegations that dated back to the 1990s.
> That's according to Eduardo Lopez de Casas, a clergy abuse survivor and national vice president of the Chicago-based Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP).
[0]: https://willcountygazette.com/stories/671124585-if-he-saw-an…
TZubiri
Congrats to the Americans on winning the World Christian Championship!
seydor
Well the markets are up, that must mean something :) More importantly , the conclave did not overshadow any new AI model releases.
Lots to learn about the Pope Leo XIV. I liked his speech
comeonbro
As a record of how likely people considered this outcome:
Prevost was hovering around 1% on Polymarket, and was <0.5% between white smoke and announcement.
krapp
[flagged]
haunter
Is he a Cubs or White Sox fan though?
vFunct
The whole Catholic aesthetic is amazing. Really is the tops.
JumpCrisscross
Looks like he’s a compromise candidate between the Church’s liberals and conservatives [1]. (American and African Catholics are on the conservative end.)
[1] https://collegeofcardinalsreport.com/evidence/cardinal-prevo…
afavour
> "Cardinal George of Chicago, of happy memory, was one of my great mentors, and he said: 'Look, until America goes into political decline, there won't be an American pope.' And his point was, if America is kind of running the world politically, culturally, economically, they don't want America running the world religiously. So, I think there's some truth to that, that we're such a superpower and so dominant, they don't wanna give us, also, control over the church."
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/new-pope-could-it-be-american-c…
mildred593
[flagged]
I_am_tiberius
I strongly believe the American choice was a strategic decision made by a group of highly intelligent individuals.
ndegruchy
So, he's Bob Pope?
…I'll see myself out.
bgwalter
I would have expected an Eastern European or American pope for obvious political reasons (think Karol Wojtyla). The political commentators will go wild in the next week.
dougbrochill
>Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University
go birds
mac3n
not about this conclave, but those who find papal elections interesting should look up the election of the Doge (duke) of Venice.
https://www.theballotboy.com/electing-the-doge
imzadi
"He is the first North American to be elected pope and, before the conclave, was the U.S. cardinal most mentioned as a potential successor of St. Peter."
Is that a typo?
neilellis
We could have had a Pope Bob, missed opportunity.
VikingCoder
Some jokes I saw on Reddit:
He is to be referred to as, "Da Pope."
"Ketchup to be banned in the Vatican."
"He's going to replace Communion Wine with Malört."
pluc
How appropriately disconnected from the church to elect an American.
ReptileMan
Unexpected. Good luck to him.
A Pope and a Trump. Countries divided. Holy Roman Empire again? Trump would make quite acceptable Habsburg – lots of resources and uncanny ability to waste good potential and situations.
moralestapia
[flagged]
seydor
Will he be taxed on his foreign Papal salary? Or will he forego the salary , like Francis did?
ralfd
Is Pope Leo eligible to be voted President of the United States?
sailfast
Missed opportunity for Pope Ditka. :/
TheBlight
Why is this on HN?
BurningFrog
Smart play for the Vatican to go with an American Pope to avoid tariffs!
(Credit: https://x.com/ArmandDoma/status/1920530249567056056)
carabiner
I really wonder if he's converted to neapolitan pizza at this point.
kevinventullo
I just like that he was a math major.
pavlov
In his time around the end of the 19th century, Leo XIII was known as the “Social Pope” and “Pope of the Workers”. He wasn’t a radical but opened the door to modern thinking in the church.
Presumably there’s some symbolism to why the new pope wanted to adopt this particular name.
tptacek
Prior to Francis, the last pope we had from a religious order (as opposed to a career diocesan) was Gregory XVI in 1831. Now we've had two religious popes in a row — Francis, a Jesuit, and then Leo, an Augustinian.
sharpy
I thought an American pope would be the last thing Vatican wanted (to avoid being seen too close to US)
lenerdenator
"Pope Bahhb? Oh yeah, used ta take communion from him down at da Catlick Church off Wacker Drive." – Some guy in Chicago right now, probably.
samgranieri
As a Catholic from the Chicago area I'm shocked and surprised he was elected. My group chats and social media is just blowing up with regional pride. God bless Pope Leo XIV!
dang
Related: https://catholicreview.org/chicago-native-cardinal-prevost-e…
(via https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43928742, but we merged that thread hither)
mrlonglong
He is not a US citizen.
He might have been born in the States but he is a fully naturalised citizen of Peru.
Reventlov
François was born in Buenos Aires, how is that the first american pope ?
throwaway7783
Great time to watch the movie "Conclave"
aziaziazi
Slightly related: the movie "Conclave" (2024) is a great and surprising thriller. Critics consensus from RottenTomatoes:
> Carrying off papal pulp with immaculate execution and career-highlight work from Ralph Fiennes, Conclave is a godsend for audiences who crave intelligent entertainment.
[video trailer] https://youtu.be/JX9jasdi3ic?si=sYwqRlK-4hYUnsAa
anonymousiam
The New Pope Robert Prevost is a registered Republican
https://x.com/TheCalvinCooli1/status/1920534168301130101
90s_dev
I hope this Pope recognizes that the only way to lead is a personal martyrdom of self interest.
A true leader must pave the way, not merely point to it. "I must decrease so that my children can increase" in the words of St. John the Baptist and the actions of St. Joseph, who St. Luke calls the father of Jesus, and who is the living image of the father.
St. Joseph's staff only sprouted the life of lilies because it was dead first (Hebrews 9:4, which book the Blessed Virgin Mary probably wrote).
(Also Chicago represent!)
Kye
Chicago: known for wind, one of the world's largest furry conventions, and the first American pope.
lupusreal
[As an American] an American pope seems very tacky. They should have picked an African or Italian
Dlemo
[flagged]
mensetmanusman
“ That the spirit of revolutionary change, which has long been disturbing the nations of the world, should have passed beyond the sphere of politics and made its influence felt in the cognate sphere of practical economics is not surprising.
The elements of the conflict now raging are unmistakable, in the vast expansion of industrial pursuits and the marvelous discoveries of science; in the changed relations between masters and workmen; in the enormous fortunes of some few individuals, and the utter poverty of the masses; the increased self reliance and closer mutual combination of the working classes; as also, finally, in the prevailing moral degeneracy. The momentous gravity of the state of things now obtaining fills every mind with painful apprehension; wise men are discussing it; practical men are proposing schemes; popular meetings, legislatures, and rulers of nations are all busied with it – actually there is no question which has taken deeper hold on the public mind.”
From the last Pope Leo over 100 years ago.
Qem
I wish him wisdom and good luck to take the task. Hope he continues the great work Francis was doing to help the civilian palestinians facing IDF massacres and starvation in Gaza. Francis called the parish there every day, and even donated the Popemobile to be turned into health clinic for the children of Gaza. See https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2025-05/the-popemobi…
michaelsbradley
Rev. P. Robert Francis PREVOST, O.S.A. (now Pope Leo XIV), Address to the Synod of Bishops, 2012
https://www.vatican.va/news_services/press/sinodo/documents/…
selectnull
Pick your username: Leo
That username had already been taken. How about Leo14?
Fine.
smnrg
Many Italian newspapers (example: IlPost) and, I suspect, many non-US media, report this as “the second American Pope, the first from the USA.”
Which, I think, is fair, as South and Latin are also America. And so is Canada. And so was Francis.
But I usually find it a hard concept to convey to my fellow local USsians.
mrandish
> He most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments.
Maybe I'm jaded but when I read that line I kind of assumed maybe that had a little to do with getting elected Pope.
asdefghyk
My first thought …
Well Donald Trump will be pleased…….
bag_boy
This post was resting on 666 comments, so I’m doing my duty.
Taniwha
(from BlueSky)
"You know who else was from Chicago and on a mission from God …."
nilslindemann
Whenever we get a new pope, I'm reminded of the prolly but proud headline in the German newspaper "Bild", when the German Ratzinger became pope: "WE ARE POPE" Congratulations, USA, now you're pope :-)
0xbadcafebee
[delayed]