The smoke above the Vatican is white. On Thursday evening local time, Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was elected as the new
Pope. He took the name Leo XIV, the first Leo in over a hundred years. While Catholics worldwide celebrated him, some were
less than happy. On social media, MAGA supporters are now criticizing Leo.
Only two days after the conclave of Catholic cardinals met in Vatican City and looked themselves in the Sistine Chapel to elect a
new pope, the smoke on top of the building was white; a new pope had been elected. American Robert Prevost appeared on the
balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica to the roar of thousands of people gathered in St Peter’s Square.
He took the name Leo XIV, meaning 13 popes before him have chosen.
Speaking to CBS, Dennis Doyle, a theologian and professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Dayton, explained
that a pope’s name indicates “a certain spirit and direction and vision of the new pope.”
“The first thing that you would look for would be, which popes had that name before?” he said. “That would signify something
about the direction that the pope wants to take.”
