Hi there, everybody. Happy Thursday. It's 4 o'clock in New York. It is 10 p.m. in the Vatican,

where history has been made today. With the election of the first ever American-born Pope,

69-year-old Robert Francis Prevost, born in Chicago, emerging from the balcony there

overlooking St. Peter Square. He has chosen the papal name Leo the 14th. In the 2000-year

history of the Catholic Church, there has never been a pope from North America until right now.

According to one of our guests, quote, this is huge. Leo the 14th is now the 267th

pontiff. Today he also becomes Bishop of Rome and leader of the 1.4 billion Roman Catholics around the

world. This is, of course, the culmination of a highly secretive process for the 133 cardinal electors sequestered inside.

It's a process that began just yesterday, 17 days after Pope Francis died.

Just after noon eastern time today, the white smoke billowed out of the chimney above the Sistine Chapel,

indicating that they had made their decision.

Immediately after, more than

150,000 people rushed towards St. Peter Square, erupting in cheers as they waited for Pope Leo

the 14th, who addressed them in Italian and then in Spanish. His first words were,

Peace be with you. He thanks the diocese in Peru, where he served for two decades.

He thanked Pope Francis, who made him a cardinal in 2003.

As for his particular vision for the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV said this,

quote, we can be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges that is always open

to receive everyone, just like in this square, to welcome everyone in charity, dialogue, and

love. What Pope Leo XIV says and what he does next matters a whole lot. As the leader

of more than a billion Roman Catholics, roughly 53 million

of them here in the U.S., Pope Leo the 14th is a voice on many of the issues we cover on this

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