Trump celebrates as Pope Leo XIV becomes first-ever Pope from America, says it’s a great honor for the US

Robert Francis Prevost (Pope Leo XIV) became on Thursday, after cardinals from around the world elected him leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

This comes 16 days after Pope Francis’ death.

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White smoke, which signals the election of a new pope, came from the chimney at 6:10 pm Vatican Time. This was after the 133 cardinals failed twice to vote in a successor for Francis, who died on April 21.

Reacting to the development on his Truth Social network, Trump said “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country.

“I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”

Last Friday, Trump, posted the on his Truth Social platform, an artificial intelligence-generated photo showing himself as the pope.

The image shows an unsmiling Trump seated in an ornate chair, dressed in white papal vestments and headdress, with his right forefinger raised.

It came after Trump joked to reporters this week that he would like to be the next pope, just days before cardinals are due to start the conclave to elect the successor of Pope Francis.

However, after facing backlash, including from Catholics over the artificial image, Trump on Monday said he “had nothing to do with” a depiction of himself as the pope that was shared on his and White House social media accounts over the weekend.

“I had nothing to do with it,” Mr. Trump said while taking questions in the Oval Office. “Somebody made up a picture of me dressed like the pope, and they put it out on the internet. That’s not me that did it, I have no idea where it came from — maybe it was A.I. But I have no idea where it came from.”

Trump, responding to a question about Catholics who are displeased with the image of him dressed in white papal robes and a ceremonial headdress, also attempted to downplay the mounting criticism.

“They can’t take a joke,” Trump said, quickly telling the reporter, “You don’t mean the Catholics; you mean the fake news media. The Catholics loved it.”

WHO is LEO XIV?

Sixty-nine-year-old Prevost is from Chicago, Illinois, and also holds citizenship from Peru. Until his papacy, he was the head of the church’s Dicastery for Bishops, a position that previously allowed him to oversee the selection of new bishops.

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He is known for embracing marginalised groups and championing the cause of the poor and migrants.