May 7, 2025

2025 papal conclave

Robert Francis Prevost is elected Pope Leo XIV

The election happened on 8 May, not the 7th the listing gives — and the public still does not know how many of the 133 votes he received.

The fourth ballot, 8 May

The conclave opened on 7 May 2025 and its first ballot produced black smoke. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected on the afternoon of 8 May, on the fourth ballot, in the Sistine Chapel.

White smoke appeared at about 6:07 p.m. Rome time, signalling that a candidate had reached the required two-thirds majority.

Voting is secret: the Church disclosed the ballot number but never a tally. All that is public is the minimum needed — at least 89 of the 133 electors.

Habemus papam

Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti announced the election from the central loggia of St Peter's Basilica and disclosed the chosen name: Leo XIV, the 267th Bishop of Rome.

Leo XIV appeared on the loggia, opened with a greeting of peace and called for a missionary, bridge-building Church. He then switched to Spanish to greet his former Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru.

He is the first pope from the United States and the first Augustinian friar to hold the office; as a dual citizen, he is also the first pope from Peru.

What was not said that night

The widely repeated explanation of his name — that Leo XIII addressed the first industrial revolution while the Church now faces artificial intelligence — was not given at the election. Leo XIV offered it to the cardinals on 10 May, two days later.

The vacancy itself dated to Pope Francis's death on 21 April 2025, after which the eligible cardinals entered conclave and held four ballots across two days.

The Vatican biography records his father as a teacher and school principal and his mother as a librarian.

Sources

Researched 24 Aug 2026 7 sources not yet audited Date corrected

How this was checked

Researched from the web into a fact sheet and rewritten from that sheet. This article has not yet had an independent model audit. How the pipeline works →

Date corrected. The research places this at 2025-05-08.

What the sources leave uncertain

Conclave voting is secret. The Church disclosed that the fourth ballot elected Prevost, but it did not publish his exact vote total; only the minimum required majority of 89 is known.
The conclave ran from 7 to 8 May, which explains the range embedded in the slug, but Prevost was elected on 8 May.