Following Pope Francis’s passing, United States Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has emerged as the 267th leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

Senior Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced Prevost to a cheering crowd on St Peter’s balcony on Wednesday afternoon, saying the famous Latin words “Habemus Papam,” meaning “we have a pope.”

Picking the papal name Leo XIV, the newly elected Pope becomes the first American to occupy the exalted religious position.

Speaking in Italian, the 69-year-old described his predecessor as always “courageous and blessed Rome.”

ALSO READ: Catholic Church elects American Robert Prevost as new Pope Leo XIV

Here are 10 quick facts to know about Leo XIV

1. Prevost was born on September 14, 1555, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martinez.

2. In 1997, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) and made his solemn vows in 1981.

3. As a former prefect of the influential Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost shared similar views to his immediate predecessor and spent many years as a missionary in Peru before he was elected the head of the Augustinians for two consecutive terms.

4. The Chicago-born prelate earned his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977, before proceeding to Catholic Theological Union in Chicago for his Master of Divinity. He subsequently bagged both a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome, with a doctoral thesis on “The role of the local prior in the Order of Saint Augustine.”

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5. He was ordained as a priest in 1982 and joined the Augustinian mission in Peru shortly after, where he served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986.

6. Between 1987 and 1988, he was in his home country of the US, working as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago. In 1988, he returned to Peru, where he spent the next ten years heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teaching canon law in the diocesan seminary, doubling as prefect of studies. Prevost also served in other capacities there, including as a parish pastor, diocesan official, director of formation, seminary teacher, and judicial vicar.

7. He returned to Chicago in 1999 and was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province in the archdiocese, before emerging as prior general of the Augustinian order and serving two terms until 2013.

8. The American prelate returned to Peru in 2014, following his appointment as the apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo by Pope Francis. He was elevated to Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015, where he served as vice-president and member of the permanent council of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference from 2018 to 2023.

ALSO READ: VIDEO: ‘Poverty is not a crime’ – Akpabio tells Nigerians from Pope’s funeral in Rome

9. Prevost served as apostolic administrator of Callao in Peru between 2020 and 2021.

10. In January 2023, Pope Francis appointed Prevost as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a powerful position responsible for selecting bishops. He held this position until his predecessor died on April 21, 2025. On September 30, 2023, Pope Francis elevated Prevost to the rank of Cardinal.

US President Donald Trump has celebrated the election of the first U.S.-born pope, calling it a “Great Honor” that Robert Francis Prevost, who chose Leo XIV as his papal name, was selected on Thursday, May 8,  as the first American pontiff. “Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope,” Mr. Trump said in a post on Truth Social. “It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment!”Trump previously said he had “no preference” about who the new pope would be and stirred a backlash from some Catholics after posting an AI-generated image of himself as pope to social media Prevost, 69 was born in Chicago and attended Villanova University before becoming a missionary in Peru.  He was elected and accepted his fate as the next Bishop of Rome, leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics earlier on Thursday.  Pope Leo XIV will succeed Pope Francis, who died last month after leading the Catholic Church for more than a decade. He played a key in shaping the image of the church over the past decade, emphasizing issues like climate change during his tenure.  The post President Trump reacts after election of first U.S.-born pope in history appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.

The Senate has passed the remaining two out of the four tax reform bills after completing the clause-by-clause consideration during the Committee of the Whole and their subsequent third reading on the Senate floor.

The two latest bills passed are the ‘Nigeria Tax Bill 2024’ and the ‘Joint Revenue Board Establishment Bill.’

This comes barely 24 hours after the red chamber passed the first two bills – one seeking to repeal the Federal Inland Revenue Service (Establishment) Act and another to establish the Joint Revenue Board (Establishment) Bill 2025, along with the Nigeria Revenue Service Bill 2025.

Lawmakers began deliberation on the reports of the four executive-sponsored tax bills during plenary on Wednesday, May 7, 2025. Two were successfully passed, and the remaining two were deferred to Thursday.

ALSO READ: Tales from public hearing on Tinubu’s tax reform bills

“These four executive bills seek to transform and modernise the tax system in Nigeria,” the Senate stated during the session.

Following the passage, the Senate has constituted a conference committee to harmonise the versions with the House of Representatives. Once aligned, the bills will be forwarded to President Bola Tinubu for assent.

Recall that the President transmitted the four tax reform bills to the National Assembly in October 2024 for consideration and passage.

However, some provisions of the bill sparked controversy in various sections across the country, leading to delays in considering their passage.

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The intervention of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) helped to resolve the major concerns raised by critics, paving the way for the bills to be considered for passage at both chambers of the National Assembly.

ALSO READ: Tinubu’s tax reforms take shape – experts applaud FIRS chairman