White smoke arose from the Sistine Chapel chimney last Thursday as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected to the papacy. He’s taken on the name Pope Leo XIV and he’s the first American to become pope. In fact, he’s from Chicago. Many are hopeful that the new pope appears to be more socially conservative than Francis—but only time will tell as his social and ethical teachings emerge. The reason why the news of a new pope is so important is because the pope is considered by many in the world to be the representative of Christian social teaching, whether Catholic or protestant—and as such, it is important that he gets these ethical questions right and be grounded in biblical truths as he leads the Catholic Church.