Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, became the first American pontiff in history after he was elected following just over a day of voting.

Leo, 69, is from Chicago and graduated in 1977 from Villanova University, an Augustinian Catholic institution outside Philadelphia, with a degree in mathematics. He joined the order of St. Augustine that same year and later obtained degrees from the Catholic Theological Union and the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas.

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The new pope served for 20 years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as a bishop on behalf of the country’s Catholic Church. He holds dual citizenship in the United States and Peru.

Leo was considered one of the candidates aligned with the path the late Pope Francis paved regarding outreach to the poor and other matters. In 2023, Francis selected Leo as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and leader of the Dicastery for Bishops. Leo was named a cardinal by Francis in September 2023.

“Pope Francis has spoken of four types of closeness: closeness to God, to brother bishops, to priests, and to all God’s people. One must not give in to the temptation to live isolated, separated in a palace, satisfied with a certain social level or a certain level within the Church,” Leo said in an interview with Vatican News in 2023.

“And we must not hide behind an idea of authority that no longer makes sense today. The authority we have is to serve, to accompany priests, to be pastors and teachers,” he added.

Leo has not always aligned with Francis on social matters, according to a New York Times report earlier this month. When he served as bishop in Chiclayo, Peru, Leo opposed a government plan to add gender teachings in schools, according to the report.

“The promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist,” Leo said, according to the report, which cited local news media in Peru.

However, Leo weighed in on U.S. politics earlier this year when he shared an article that criticized Vice President JD Vance’s February comments, which Francis also took issue with.

In February, Leo shared on X a National Catholic Reporter story titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.” He also shared a story about Francis’s letter to bishops in the U.S. regarding immigration.

Vance later addressed his spat with Francis at a prayer, saying, “Sometimes bishops don’t like what I say.”

“And I’m sure, by the way, sometimes they’re right and sometimes they’re wrong, my goal is not to litigate when I’m right and when they’re wrong or vice versa,” Vance continued. “My goal is to maybe articulate the way that I think about being a Christian in public life when you also have religious leaders in public life who have a spiritual duty to speak on the issues of the day.”

In the 2023 interview with Vatican News, Leo discussed the importance of using social media to advance the gospel, but also warned about its risk for controversy.

POPE LEO XIV: CARDINAL ROBERT PREVOST BECOMES FIRST-EVER AMERICAN PONTIFF

“At the same time, the world today, which is constantly changing, presents situations where we really have to think several times before speaking or before writing a message on Twitter, in order to answer or even just to ask questions in a public form, in full view of everyone. Sometimes there is a risk of fuelling divisions and controversy,” Leo said.

“There is a great responsibility to use social networks, communication, correctly, because it is an opportunity, but it is also a risk. And it can do damage to the communion of the Church. That is why one must be very prudent in the use of these means,” he added.