The U.S.-born pope spent about a dozen years as a missionary in Peru and returned there later to serve as a bishop.

Still, it was an exciting moment for the Americans who were at the Vatican that day. Mariner says he and his wife were in a restaurant in Rome at the time, surrounded by dozens of U.S. citizens. When the new pope was announced, Mariner heard many of the patrons joyfully exclaim, “He’s an American!”

White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday afternoon, indicating the cardinals had elected a successor to Pope Francis.

The Roman Catholic cardinals gathered at the Vatican in Rome have chosen a new pope to lead the church’s 1.4 billion faithful, announcing their decision on Thursday with a swirl of white smoke from a smokestack above the Sistine Chapel.

After weeks of significant moments in the Catholic Church, one Billings student has found himself at the center of one of the most extraordinary moments in modern Church history.

At private dinners and at formal gatherings of cardinals, talk among church leaders of who will next lead the church has certainly already begun.

Peruvians have celebrated the election of a man many knew as a missionary and bishop during his 2 decades of service in the South American country.

Pope Leo XIV leaves the Augustinian General House in Rome after a visit, Tuesday, May 13, 2025.