The newly anointed Pope Leo XIV came to the balcony clad in a white cassock topped by a red cape trimmed in ermine and draped in a gold embroidered sash. He clasped his hands in prayer and smiled as the crowds chanted his name, and “ Viva La Papa! ”

Eighteen days after Pope Francis last appeared on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, his successor -- the 267th pope -- emerged.

Pope Leo XIV said Friday that his election was both a cross to bear and a blessing as he celebrated his first Mass and details began to emerge of how votes swiftly coalesced to make him history's first American pope.