For the first time, an American will lead the Catholic Church.

On Thursday, the Vatican revealed that Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected by the papal conclave. He soon after addressed a jubilant crowd at St. Peter's Square by his new adopted name: Pope Leo XIV.

"May we all work together towards the place where God has prepared for us," he said, according to a translation from NBC News. He stressed the need to "build bridges" with "dialogue" and "love."

Originally born in Chicago, the 69-year-old Prevost previously served as the bishop of Chiclayo, in Peru. In February, his predecessor, Pope Francis, promoted him to the position of cardinal-bishop and handed him responsibility over the historically significant Diocese of Albano outside Rome.

Prevost was elected pontiff on the second day of the papal conclave, chosen on the sixth ballot by a two-thirds majority of the 133 cardinals assembled.

• "Catholics loved it": Trump says people bothered by his AI pope image "can't take a joke"
• "The Turning": The dark side of Mother Teresa's order, according to nuns who left
• The strange history of how the Catholic Church declared beaver to be a fish — at least during Lent