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.

Pope Leo XIV, the first person from the United States to lead the Catholic Church, is taking on a financial headache in his new position. White smoke billowed from the Vatican at about 6 p.m. on Thursday as the papal conclave made its decision about who should become the leader of the Catholic Church.

Pope Leo XIV has inherited a raging battle for not only the soul of the Catholic Church, but also its place in the geopolitical world.The new pope will have to decide whether his global pulpit will continue Pope Francis’ broadly progressive legacy,