Holy Smoke!  An American Pope!

By Alex Miller

They said it couldn’t be done, but on May 8, 2025,133 cardinals elected an American as the 267^th Pope, leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.  Robert Francis Prevost, who has taken the name Leo XIV for his papacy, is the former Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, and prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the department of the Roman Curia which oversees the selection of new bishops.  Chicago born and bred, Prevost is the first pontiff from North America; with his dual Peruvian citizenship, he is also the first from Peru; and first of the Augustine order.

Born 14 September 1955, Robert Prevost’s elevation to the Holy See, and his choice of regnal name, might seem inevitable given asteroids Pappos (cognate to “Papa,” Italian for “pope,” at 6 Scorpio) and Leona (feminine form of Leo, at 5 Leo) squared (90 degrees) each other, with his Sun (21 Virgo) on their midpoint, semisquare (45 degrees) to each.

But the cosmos was much more dialed in to the future Leo XIV than that.  When the conclave which elected him was sequestered in the Sistine Chapel at 5:47 PM CEDT on May 7^th, in Vatican City, asteroid Roberts (at 23 Cancer, one of three asteroid variations of Robert, for which there is no exact match) appears just one degree off the Midheaven (22 Cancer), the point of highest elevation and the focus of all eyes, ruling career, reputation, status and place in the world.  As well, the Moon for the conclave (22 Virgo), parenthesized by asteroids Pappos (20 Virgo) and Chaple (23 Virgo, alternate spelling of “chapel”), aligned with his natal Sun (21 Virgo), indicating a direct, personal, emotional connection to the event, and making him the popular choice (Moon).  Both asteroids are also at station, suggesting a momentous turning point for the papacy (Pappos), originating in the Sistine Chapel (Chaple).  Squaring this was asteroid Roberto (Italian, Spanish form of Robert, at 20 Sagittarius), again linking him to the conclave in real time.  An opposition to Jupiter (22 Gemini) creates a T-Square pattern (two points opposed (180 degrees) each other both squared a third, a dynamic linkage), with Jupiter ruling religion and ecclesiastics, and promoting luck or positive outcomes. The Sun (17 Taurus) was closely squared Prevost’s birth asteroid Chaple (18 Leo), highlighting (Sun) him in that venue (Chaple).

Remarkably, asteroids Roberta (feminine version of Robert, at 7 Taurus) and Prevot (closest to Prevost, at 5 Taurus) are conjoined, uniting his full name, in a T-Square with Pluto (3 Aquarius) and Mars (8 Leo), signaling that Robert (Roberta) Prevost (Prevot) was about to be transformed (Pluto) into one of the most powerful (also Pluto) leaders (Mars) on the globe.

The cosmic synchronicity continues, with asteroid Roberts back on the Midheaven (now 28 Cancer) when the white smoke appeared at 6:07 PM local time on the following day, announcing to the world that a new pope had been elected.  His identity had not yet been revealed, however.  That moment came at 7:13 PM local time, with the Roberta/Prevot pairing (now at 8 and 6 Taurus) granted additional prominence by conjunction with the Descendant (setting point on the western horizon, at 7 Taurus), and closely squared by asteroid White (8 Aquarius), denoting the smoke that had signaled his election.  The new pope’s new name, Leo, was made public then, with Roberta/Prevost squared his natal Leona.  When Leo XIV himself appeared, ten minutes later, the Ascendant (our public image, at 9 Scorpio) had advanced to conjoin his natal asteroid Pappos, the job title by which he will forever be remembered, while the Midheaven (17 Leo) was now just one degree shy of his natal asteroid Chaple, the scene of his election.

Title Image Credit:  from Wikipedia by INFOWeather1 – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=164960939