It took two days for the cardinals of the Catholic Church to reach an agreement to elect the new Pope. On May 8, white smoke began to rise from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel announcing that a new pontiff had been chosen.
The 133 cardinals who were electors reached an agreement after about four ballots and two rounds of black smoke.
The new Pope is Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, elected to be the new leader of the Catholic Church. In his pontificate he will take the name Leo XIV.
For many cardinals, it was their first time voting in the Conclave, but the agreement still came within the expected time. The past two papal elections, those of Pope Francis and Pope Benedict XVI, had also lasted only two days.
Today begins a new chapter in the history of the Catholic Church, and Leo XIV, now elected pope, will continue bringing the faithful closer to the Church.
After twelve years of pontificate, Francis has left an air of modernity, creating patterns that other popes had not even imagined.
Now we must wait to see the course of Leo XIV’s pontificate.
