"He is an American, but he's an American who has a really international experience," said an assistant professor at St. Louis University.

The pontiff held his first meeting with the news media at the Vatican and called on reporters to choose “the path of communication in favor of peace.”

Will the new Pope bring in more reserved approaches compared to Pope Francis? This is a question that the world is trying to find answers to at the moment.

Erik Pohlmeier, bishop of the Diocese of St. Augustine, is one of many welcoming Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago native, as Pope Leo XIV, the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. Pohlmeier described the appointing of the first American Pope in history as a “great honor,” in a public statement issued by the diocese.

Leo addressed a packed St. Peter's Square, echoing an urgent plea for peace that was a recurring theme of his predecessor, Pope Francis.