Leo XIV, the 'Latin Yankee,' to celebrate first mass as pope

Pope Leo XIV will celebrate mass on Friday, the day after becoming the first U.S. head of the Catholic Church, with the world watching for signs of what kind of pope he will be.

Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost became the 267th pope and spiritual leader to the world's 1.4 billion Catholics on Thursday after a secret conclave by his fellow cardinals in the Vatican's Sistine Chapel.

At 11:00 a.m. (0900 GMT) Friday, the 69-year-old, sometimes referred to in Rome as the "Latin Yankee" for his time as a missionary in Peru, will return to the chapel to celebrate a private mass with cardinals that will be broadcast by the Vatican, delivering his much-anticipated first homily as pope.

Tens of thousands of well-wishers cheered Leo as he appeared on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica on Thursday evening -- with many having no idea who the modest man before them was.

The American, who spent two decades in Peru and was only made a cardinal in 2023, had been on many Vatican watchers' lists of potential popes, although he is far from being a globally recognized figure.

Over the coming days, from Friday's Mass to Sunday's midday Regina Coeli prayer and a meeting with journalists at the Vatican on Monday, the actions and words of Leo will be closely scrutinised.

Across the globe in Peru, well-wishers, including the bishop of El Callao outside Lima, Luis Alberto Barrera, saluted the Augustinian's engagement in the Andean country.

"He showed his closeness and simplicity with the people," Barrera told AFP.

"He was a very simple person who adapted to everything, like any good missionary."

In Chicago, locals celebrated his love of baseball, deep-dish pizza, and his working-class South Side neighbourhood in the United States' third-largest city.

The Chicago Tribune called him "the pride and joy of every priest and nun" at his local parish, where he went to school and served as an altar boy.

AFP