In a signal of continuity, Pope Francis’s successor didn’t wear the papal red velvet loafers to his inaugural Mass before cardinals Friday at the Sistine Chapel.

Pope Leo XIV, now the successor of St. Peter, leads the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church in a sacred role that few others will ever hold.

Speakers blasted “Born in the U.S.A.

Details have begun to emerge of how votes swiftly coalesced to make Pope Leo XIV history’s first American pope.

South Florida’s Catholic community is celebrating the historic selection of the first American pope, with the Archdiocese of Miami calling him not just a U.S. citizen, but a “global citizen” shaped by missionary work abroad.

Peruvians are elated after a Catholic cardinal who spent years guiding the faithful in the South American country was elected pope and hoped he will visit them soon in his new role.

Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first U.S. pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church, previously led a Catholic religious order.

Robert Prevost may have made history Thursday by becoming the first pope from the United States.

Cardinal Robert Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV.

The United States is the home country of 10 of the 133 cardinals eligible to vote for the next pope of the Catholic Church.

In South Florida, Catholics attended mass at churches in greater numbers to commemorate Ash Wednesday, which marks the first day of Lent, a 40-day season of prayer, fasting, and charity before Easter on April 20.