The new pope, Pope Leo XIV, is from Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was born there in 1955 as Robert Francis Prevost to parents of French, Italian, and Spanish descent
. He is the first American pope in the history of the Catholic Church
. Despite his American birth, he spent many years working as a missionary and bishop in Peru, and also holds Peruvian citizenship
. Additionally, his maternal ancestry traces back to Creole roots in New Orleans, linking him to the Afro-Caribbean Catholic heritage in America