Anniversary of the Election of Pope Leo XIV in Vatican City Date in the current year: May 8, 2025

The Pope is the Bishop of Rome, leader of the Catholic Church, and head of state of Vatican City since its formation as an independent state in 1929. The current pope, Leo XIV, was elected on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis.

Pope Leo XIV was born Robert Francis Prevost on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. His parents were practicing Catholics, and Prevost attended a Catholic school, sang in the church choir, and served as an altar boy as a child. He aspired to the priesthood at a young age and attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan.

In 1977, Prevost graduated from Villanova University and formally joined the Order of Saint Augustine as a novice. He continued his studies at the Catholic Theological Union, earning a Master of Divinity degree in 1982. That same year, he was ordained a priest in Rome. In 1985, he joined the Augustinian mission in Peru and spent many years in the Archdiocese of Trujillo.

Prevost returned to the U.S. in the late 1990s and was elected Prior Provincial of the Augustinians in Chicago. In 2001, he was elected Prior General of the worldwide Augustinian Order, serving two consecutive six-year terms. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. The following year, he became bishop of Chiclayo. In 2023, he was appointed Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and became a cardinal.

Pope Francis died of a stroke followed by cardiac arrest on April 21, 2025. The papal conclave to elect his successor was held on May 7 and 8, 2025, and was attended by all but two of the 135 eligible cardinal electors. On the second day of the conclave, Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope. He took the name Leo XIV in honor of Pope Leo XIII, reflecting Leo XIII’s concern for workers and social justice while addressing the challenges posed by a new industrial revolution driven by artificial intelligence.

Upon his election, Pope Leo XIV became the first pope from North America, the first born in the U.S., the first to hold U.S. or Peruvian citizenship, the first Augustinian pope, the first pope born after World War II, and the second pope from the Americas, after Pope Francis, who was Argentinian.

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first Mass as pope in the Sistine Chapel on May 9, 2025. His inauguration took place on May 18, 2025. Some 200,000 people attended the inauguration, including 150 formal delegations, dozens of heads of state, and various religious leaders. On May 25, a ceremony was held at the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore to formally install Leo as the Bishop of Rome.

Vatican City first celebrated the anniversary of Pope Leo XIV’s election as a public holiday on May 8, 2026. When Leo is succeeded by the next pope, the date of the holiday will change accordingly. Another public holiday is observed in Vatican City to honor the namesake of the incumbent pope. Since Leo’s birth name is Robert, September 17, the feast day of Saint Robert Bellarmine, has been a public holiday in the Holy See since 2025.