WATCH: Video shows Robert Prevost introduced as Pope Leo XIV at Vatican balcony

Robert Francis Prevost has been named the new pope of the Catholic Church, waving to thousands of onlookers in St. Peter's Square from the central window of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, May 8.

The new pope was selected by the College of Cardinals on May 8 after multiple rounds of voting during a papal conclave that began on May 7.

A Chicago, Illinois native, Robert Francis Prevost, 69, selected the papal name Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost attended Villanova University and Catholic Theological Union in Chicago before earning a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Watch the moment it happened: Pope Leo XIV is introduced on St. Peter's Basilica balcony

To watch the introduction, watch below or via USA TODAY's livestream at the top of this story.

Greta Cross is a national trending reporter at USA TODAY. Story idea? Email her at [email protected].