The newly anointed Pope Leo XIV came to the balcony clad in a white cassock topped by a red cape trimmed in ermine and draped in a gold embroidered sash. He clasped his hands in prayer and smiled as the crowds chanted his name, and “ Viva La Papa! ”

Chicago native Robert Prevost is now the first pope ever from the United States. He chose Leo XIV as his papal name. People who knew him in his early days remember a friendly young man who had a calling.