How a Quiet American Cardinal Became Pope

The cardinals electing a new pope to lead the Roman Catholic Church left the Sistine Chapel exhausted and hungry.

A meditation to start the conclave had dragged on and pushed their first vote deep into Wednesday evening. It had resulted in an inconclusive tally, with three main contenders. Keeping their vow of secrecy, they returned to Casa Santa Marta, the guesthouse where they were sequestered without their phones, and started talking.

Over dinner, as one gluten-free cardinal picked over vegetables and others shrugged at the simple fare, they weighed their choices. Cardinal Pietro Parolin, 70, the Italian who ran the Vatican under Pope Francis, had entered the conclave as a front-runner but hadn’t received overwhelming support during the vote. The Italians were divided, and some of the cardinals in the room had become bothered by his failure to emphasize the collaborative meetings that Francis prioritized for governing the church.

Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary, 72, backed by a coalition of conservatives that included some African supporters, had no way to build momentum in an electorate widely appointed by Francis.

That left Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, a quiet American dark horse who had surprisingly emerged in the evening’s vote as a source of particular interest.

Cardinal Pietro Parolin of Italy, Cardinal Peter Erdo of Hungary and Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of the United States became the front runners during the conclave.Credit…Michal Cizek/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images; Peter Lakatos/EPA, via Shutterstock; Riccardo De Luca/Associated Press