Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica shortly after his election on Thursday, May 8.
Francesco Sforza/Vatican Media/ReutersPublished 11:20 PM EDT, Thu May 8, 2025
We have a new pope — and for the first time in history, he’s an American.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old from Chicago, was elected on the second day of the papal conclave. He took on the name Pope Leo XIV.
Thousands of people were in St. Peter’s Square to greet the new pope, who appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica more than an hour after white smoke signaled his election.
In his speech, Leo outlined his vision for the Catholic Church as one that “builds bridges” and engages in conversation. He also called on the Catholic Church to be a “synodal” church, “one which goes forward and which always seeks peace and to be close to those who suffer.”
The new pope is a leader with global experience. He spent much of his career as a missionary in South America and most recently led a powerful Vatican office for bishop appointments. He is expected to build on Pope Francis’ reforms.
Leo worked for a decade in Trujillo, Peru, and was later appointed bishop of Chiclayo, another Peruvian city, where he served from 2014 to 2023.
Here are some of the stories that made headlines over the past week, as well as some photos that caught our eye.
Birds, dolphins and a humpback whale feed on a school of fish near California’s Channel Islands on Thursday, May 1.
Annika Hammerschlag/AP Students take part in a safety drill inside a school in New Delhi on Wednesday, May 7. Tensions between India and Pakistan have been on high this week after India’s strikes on parts of Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. India said the strikes were in response to the massacre of 26 people — mostly Indian tourists — who were killed in April when gunmen stormed a scenic mountain spot in the India-administered part of Kashmir, a long-disputed border region. India blamed Pakistan for the shooting. Pakistan denied involvement and vowed to retaliate against India. Amarjeet Kumar Singh/Anadolu/Getty Images Sovereignty, with jockey Junior Alvarado, wins the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 3. Michael Clevenger/Imagn Images/ReutersSwimmers enjoy a pool in Munich, Germany, on Thursday, May 1.
Sven Hoppe/DPA/APPeople in Khan Younis, Gaza, attend a funeral Saturday, May 3, for Palestinians who were killed in Israeli strikes.
Hatem Khaled/Reuters A costumed man fires a rifle loaded with blanks during a parade in Mexico City on Monday, May 5. Cinco de Mayo commemorates the Battle of Puebla, in which Mexican General Ignacio Zaragoza led his outnumbered troops to victory against the French on May 5, 1862. Carl de Souza/AFP/Getty Images Britain’s Prince William; Catherine, the Princess of Wales; and their children — from left, Prince George, Prince Louis and Princess Charlotte — watch aircraft fly past Buckingham Palace during a VE Day parade in London on Monday, May 5. It has been 80 years since the end of World War II in Europe. Frank Augstein/APPeople walk on the double-helix Bramante staircase in the Vatican Museum on Friday, May 2.
Christopher Furlong/Getty Images Swimming legend Katie Ledecky celebrates Saturday, May 3, after she broke her own world record in the 800-meter freestyle. She recorded a time of 8:04.12 at the TYR Pro Swim Series Fort Lauderdale, shaving six-tenths of a second off her previous record and finishing almost 20 seconds ahead of her closest competitor. Carmen Mandato/Getty ImagesA man in St. Peter’s Square holds up an American flag as people cheer for the new pope at the Vatican on Thursday, May 8.
Alessio Paduano for CNN People look at part of an unidentified aircraft that crashed in the village of Wuyan in Indian-administered Kashmir on Wednesday, May 7. It was not immediately clear from the pictures of the wreckage who the aircraft belonged to. Locals in nearby Srinagar heard a loud explosion earlier on Wednesday, around the time when India said it was conducting airstrikes against Pakistan. Tauseef Mustafa/AFP/Getty ImagesA forklift carries cardboard into a warehouse for recycling in Jakarta, Indonesia, on Sunday, May 4.
Yasuyoshi Chiba/AFP/Getty ImagesWorkers walk next to containers in Brazil’s Port of Rio Grande on Tuesday, May 6.
Silvio Avila/AFP/Getty Images Former Memphis police officer Justin Smith Jr., right, hugs defense attorney Michael Stengel after Smith and two other former police officers, Tadarrius Bean and Demetrius Haley, were acquitted of all state charges in the fatal beating of Tyre Nichols on Wednesday, May 7. The three defendants still face the prospect of years in prison after they were convicted of federal charges last year, though they were acquitted of the most serious charges. Chris Day/Commercial Appeal/USA Today Network/Pool/AP Iconic singer Diana Ross attends the annual Met Gala in New York on Monday, May 5. Her 60-pound, 18-foot-long train was embroidered with the names of all of her children and grandchildren. See all the best looks from the Met Gala. Kevin Mazur/MG25/Getty Images for The Met Museum/VogueA European stonechat spreads its wings in Mallnow, Germany, on Friday, May 2.
Patrick Pleul/Picture Alliance/Getty ImagesNuns walk in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on Wednesday, May 7.
Jeff Pachoud/AFP/Getty Images Israeli security forces inspect the site where a ballistic missile, fired by Yemen's Houthi rebels, landed in the vicinity of Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, Israel, on Sunday, May 4. It forced Israel to briefly shut down the airport. Israel retaliated by striking targets in Yemen on Monday. Ohad Zwigenberg/APThe Houston Rockets' Alperen Şengün charges into Golden State’s Brandin Podziemski during Game 7 of their NBA playoff series on Sunday, May 4. Golden State won to advance to the Western Conference semifinals.
Ashley Landis/APMembers of the Birmingham Royal Ballet perform “Les Sylphides” in Birmingham. England, on Tuesday, May 6.
Garry Jones/Getty ImagesItalian tailor Raniero Mancinelli works at his shop in Rome on Wednesday, May 7. For decades, Mancinelli has personally handcrafted the white cassocks that popes wear on the day of their election.
Alessio Paduano for CNNSwifty Swine Racing Pigs compete before a NASCAR race in Fort Worth, Texas, on Sunday, May 4.
Chris Graythen/Getty ImagesArt restorers work on Gustave Courbet's painting "A Burial at Ornans" at the Orsay Museum in Paris on Wednesday, May 7. The painting had not undergone any significant restoration for at least half a century.
Thibaud Moritz/AFP/Getty ImagesCleveland Guardians center fielder Daniel Schneemann, left, and right fielder Jhonkensy Noel go for a ball hit by Minnesota’s Byron Buxton during a Major League Baseball game in Cleveland on Thursday, May 1. Schneemann made the catch.
Ken Blaze/Imagn Images/ReutersWhite smoke is released from the chimney of the Vatican’s Sistine Chapel on Thursday, May 8, signaling the election of a new pope.
Alessio Paduano for CNNA racegoer walks though the grounds of Churchill Downs before the Kentucky Derby on Saturday, May 3.
Brynn Anderson/APA woman reacts as she looks at burned cars outside a mall following a night- time drone attack in Kyiv, Ukraine, on Sunday, May 4.
Sergei Supinsky/AFP/Getty Images Trans rights demonstrators gather outside the office of the Equality and Human Rights Commission in Glasgow, Scotland, on Friday, May 2. Last month, the United Kingdom’s highest court ruled that the legal definition of “woman” excludes trans women. Jeff J Mitchell/Getty ImagesDetainees play basketball at the Northwest ICE Processing Center in Tacoma, Washington, on Friday, May 2. The number of detainees at the detention center increased by nearly 50% in April, according to US Rep. Emily Randall.
David Ryder/Getty ImagesMicah White-Powell dances in her bed as she’s visited by “Star Wars” droid R2-D2 at the Corewell Health Children's Hospital in Royal Oak, Michigan, on Friday, May 2.
Paul Sancya/AP Outgoing German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, right, congratulates new Chancellor Friedrich Merz during a handover ceremony in Berlin on Tuesday, May 6. Maja Hitij/Getty ImagesThis aerial photo, taken on Tuesday, May 6, shows stone barns and cottages near the village of Bolton Abbey in northern England.
Oli Scarff/AFP/Getty ImagesCardinals pray in the Sistine Chapel before the start of the papal conclave on Wednesday, May 7.
Vatican Media/ReutersA man uses a cloth to cover himself from the rain as he walks through a wholesale market in New Delhi on Friday, May 2.
Priyanshu Singh/ReutersPeople vote in Australia's general election at a polling station at the Bondi Surf Bathers Life Saving Club in Sydney on Saturday, May 3.
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