Latin American leaders congratulated Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, on Thursday for his election as the new Pope under the name of Leo XIV, the 267th and the first American and Augustinian in the history of the Catholic Church.
Colombian President Gustavo Petro is confident that Cardinal Robert Prevost’s Latino background and the “progressive” legacy of his Chicago birth city will help him become a “great leader of migrant peoples” and serve as an encouragement to Latin American migrants “who are humiliated today in the United States.”
“I hope he will help us build the great force of humanity that defends life and defeats the greed that has caused the climate crisis and the extinction of all living things (…) I feel hope,” he expressed.
The Brazilian government hopes that Prevost “will be a guide for social justice and a promoter of peace, poverty reduction, the fight against hunger, and a more humane world.”
For his part, the president of Argentina, Javier Milei, shared a cryptic message accompanied by an image created by artificial intelligence showing a pope with a lion’s head, alluding to the name Prevost chose for his pontificate.
“The forces of heaven have clearly rendered their verdict. No more words, Your Honor. The end,” Milei wrote on his X account.
The president of Ecuador, Daniel Noboa, welcomed Leo XIV “with hope in his heart” and hopes that “his word will unite, console, and guide millions in times of uncertainty. Our prayers are with him from Ecuador.”
In Paraguay, President Santiago Peña expressed his “joy” at the appointment of the new Pope Leo XIV and expressed his confidence that “his guidance will bring hope, dialogue, and unity” at a time of need for “Christian values.”
