Leo XIV held his first Mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel on Friday, in what was a private service for the 132 voting cardinals who elected him as the 267th leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics a day earlier.

In his advocacy of the poor, migrants and a more open church, many people see the new pope as a continuation of his predecessor.

R obert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, made history on Thursday, May 8, when he was elected as the first American Pope. The Chicago native, who has spent many years serving as a missionary in Peru, took to the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and addressed the cheering crowd, speaking in Spanish and Italian.