Pope Leo XIV held his first Mass today after his historic election as the first North American pope. He met with the cardinals who chose him to lead the Catholic Church on Thursday and is expected to follow in Pope Francis’ social justice-minded footsteps. The Pope, 69, the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary Robert Prevost, surprised the world when he emerged on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica as the 267th pontiff, overcoming the traditional prohibition against a pope from the United States.