Despite being the first pope from America, a country where the Catholic Church is known for its relative conservatism, Pope Leo XIV — who spent much of his adult life working in Peru — is expected to largely continue his predecessor’s progressive reforms,

Few, if any, Latin Americans show up on the speculative lists of who might be elected as the supreme pontiff, or “papabile.” But that doesn’t mean the cardinals will not once again look to the New World.

New Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost, 79 years old, is a curious figure of a "Latin American Yankee" - and for this reason was the candidate for pope of the cardinals of North and South America, very large groups.

For the Catholic faithful across Latin America, Pope Francis was iconic for many reasons. Not only is Catholicism the major religion in nearly every country of the continent, but he was the first Pope from Latin America,

The Catholic Church has entered a new historic era with the election of American-Peruvian Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th Supreme Pontiff, who adopted the name Leo XIV, but what has his life and career been like?

Speaking to EWTN News Nightly anchor Catherine Hadro on Monday, Rooney — also a former U.S. representative — said that Leo will be a “fantastic Pope” because he “can communicate with people in a very clear but nonthreatening way.”

With Roman Catholic cardinals set to begin their secret conclave to elect a new pope, the legacy left behind by Pope Francis, the first pope from Latin America, may be tightly guarded by the region's cardinals hoping to again install one of their own,