Pope Leo XIV: why did Cardinal Robert Prevost choose that name to be Pope and how many more have there been in the entire history of the Vatican?

After two days of indecision, fumata bianca was finally seen billowing out of the Sistine Chapel chimney in the Vatican City in the early evening of Thursday. The Catholic Church has elected a new supreme pontiff - Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes the first ever American Pope, and has chosen the papal name: Leo XIV.

Can pontiffs choose their own papal name?

The Catholic Church does not impose any rules or restrictions about what papal name the pontiff chooses but usually, newly-elected popes will opt for the name of a previous pope, or perhaps a saint that they admire and would like to imitate.

Cardinal Robert Prevost is the 14th pontiff to take the name Leo. The first was Pope St Leo I or Leo the Great, whose papalcy began on 29 September 440 and ended on the day of his death, 10 November 461 at the age of 61. He was the 45th pope, and the first to be buried within St. Peter’s.

It would be another two centuries before the next Leo served. Born in Sicily, Pope Leo II’s time in the Vatican was short - less than a year from his coronation on August 17, 682 to his passing on July 3, 683.

Born in Rome to Asupius and Elizabeth, Pope Leo III was believed to have been on Greek ancestry. He served for over two decades from the years 795 AD to 816 AD and survived an attempt on his life in 799.

Five saints: Leo I, Leo II, Leo III, Leo IV and Leo IX

Pope Leo IV was the 103rd pontiff, who served as bishop of Rome and Papal States’ ruler from April 10, 847 A.D. until his death in 855 A.D. He was the fourth Pope Leo to be declared a saint.

Pope Leo V succeeded Benedict IV in 903. His fate is the subject of much debate for scholars - what we do know is that his papacy was brief - less than six months and he died shortly after being deposed, although the details of his demise are not known.

The most recent Pope Leo before today’s appointment was Leo XIII, born Gioacchino Vincenzo Raffaele Luigi Pecci, who served from February 20 1878 until July 20 1903. Curiously, he is believed to be the oldest living pontiff, aged 93 and 140 days when he died of pneumonia as the third-longest-reigning pope (25 years) at the time.

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