Breaking: President Trump Reacts to Emergence of New Pope

• UN President Donald Trump has sent a congratulatory message to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, the newly announced Pope of the Catholic Church
• Trump said it was surprising that the Pope of the Catholic Church, who has taken the papal name, Pope Leo XIV, would be the first American to be elected into the position
• The US President then expressed his willingness to meet with the new Catholic leader and spend quality time with him

White House, US - Donald Trump, the president of the United States, has reacted to the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just elected as the new Pope of the Catholic Church by the conclave, saying he was happy with the development.

The US president, in his reaction, said he was surprised that Prevost would be the American to be elected into the prestigious position. Trump said he was excited about the development and described it as a great honour for the country.

He then expressed his readiness to meet the new Prevost, who has now taken the papal name Pope Leo XIV, adding that he was eager to have a beautiful moment with the new Catholic leader.

Pope Leo XIV was declared the new leader of the Catholic Church on Thursday, May 8. His emergence was the result of the death of Pope Francis, who died earlier in April. The American was said to be the first to be elected Pope from the United States.

See Trump's statement here: .

Process of electing a new Pope

The process of electing a new Pope has been technical, and those elected are always unmarried. However, the road to celibacy in the Catholic Church has now become uniform and a rule, which is being enforced in the church, has been long and is still being contested.

In AD325, the Council of Nicea, Roman Emperor Constantine, discussed the practice of priestly celibacy, and by AD692, the Council of Trullo made it mandatory for bishops to remain celibate, not not everyone followed the practice.

Clerical celibacy has been one of the major factors that contributed to the "Great Schism" between the Catholic and Orthodox churches in the 11th Century.

The 11th-century Gregorian reforms and the two Lateran councils of 1123 and 1139 enforced the practice of staying away from sexual relations more seriously, and finally, celibacy became the defining feature of the Western-rite Catholic priesthood in the reformation era of the 16th Century and the Council of Trent (1545 to 1563).

List of popes in the last 110 years

Legit.ng earlier reported that Pope Francis has become the 10th leader of the world of the Catholic Church in the last 110 years in history.

The late Francis died on Monday, April 21, which was the same day as Easter Monday, just after delivering Easter Sunday's sermon.

The list of popes who have ruled the Catholic Church world in the last 110 years, from Pope Pius X to Francis, has been compiled.

Source: Legit.ng