ROME - The new Chicago-raised Pope Leo XIV faces an immediate challenge in his native country: taming the brawling U.S. tribe of Catholics, riven by political divisions that have thwarted the will of his predecessors.

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV is in a new job that will have many crossovers into politics. It's a realm not entirely unknown to the Chicago-born priest.

Robert Francis Prevost, who was born in Chicago and attended Villanova University, was elected as the new pope on Thursday and chose Leo XIV as his papal name.