VATICAN CITY (AP) — Details have begun to emerge of how votes swiftly coalesced to make Pope Leo XIV history’s first American pope. Freed from their conclave, cardinals began describing the hours and days leading up to the final ballot Thursday afternoon that brought Leo past the two-thirds majority needed. Many marveled that the Chicago-born Augustinian missionary in Peru reached the threshold so quickly, given the vast diversity of voters and the traditional taboo against a U.S. pope because of the secular power the country wields. Leo said Friday in his first Mass that his election was both a cross to bear and a blessing.
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