White smoke emerged from the Sistine Chapel on the evening of Thursday, May 8, signaling that the Vatican has elected a new Pope. After a short wait, Cardinal Dominique François Joseph Mamberti stepped out onto the balcony overlooking St.

Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday, becoming the first pope from the United States and defying a longstanding belief that church leaders would never select a pope from a global superpower that already has considerable influence in world affairs.