American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the new pope and leader of the Roman Catholic Church on Thursday and has taken the name Pope Leo XIV, a senior cardinal announced to crowds in St. Peter’s Square.

At shortly after 6 p.m., billowing white smoke emerged from the copper chimney installed on the rooftop of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel, signalling that a pope had been elected after two days of voting. St. Peter’s Square erupted in shouts, cheers and clapping when the white smoke emerged and the bells of the basilica rang.