The announcement of St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican city exhibited waves of shock and pride in the United States: for the first time the Pope was American. And a white SOX fan for booting.
In more than two dozen interviews across the country, Catholics and non -Catholics equally stunned that a 2,000 -year -old religious institution had selected Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was originally from the south side of Chicago as the new guide, Pope Leo XIV, from the south side of Chicago.
“We got what we had never expected,” said Rev. Lawrence C. Tajah, a chaplain for the Nigerian Catholic Community in Hyattsville, MD.
Some hoped that a Pontiff, who is simply known to friends as a “bob”, would give the decorated traditions of the Vatican an simply spoken American sensitivity. Others indicated prayers that an American Pope could help heal the divisions within American Catholicism and perhaps even smooth the cracks between the United States and their allies, which were widespread under President Trump.
“It is part of a new American story,” said Alex Freeman, a 33-year-old event planner from Atlanta. Ms. Freeman grew up Baptist, but occasionally visits Catholic services in a historically black Catholic Church.
The announcement has raised a rare moment of cross -party acquaintance for a politically divided country. President Trump welcomed the election of Pope Leo as a “great honor for our country”, while former President Joseph R. Biden Jr., a lifelong Catholic, said: “May God bless Pope Leo XIV of Illinois.”
It was one of the few events that seemed to be astonished to combine. Students of the Jesuit-led Xavier University in Cincinnati “became” wild “when they heard the news, said Eric Sundrup, Xavier’s Vice President for Mission and Ministry.
In Oakland, California, Spanish -speaking parishioners were excited to have another Pope who spoke Spanish and spent a large part of his life in Peru. In Boston, a group of golf buddies said that had gotten on the result of the conclave (the spiritual implications of it are unclear) that none of them thought correctly.
“I never thought it would happen,” said Tom Keane, 71, one of the golfers. “Not in my life.”
And in Washington, DC, officials of the basilica of the national shrine of the flawless conception, known as America’s Catholic Church, were so “completely surprised” by Cardinal Prevost’s choice that they had to revise their decoration plans, said Jacquelyn Hayes, a spokeswoman.
In addition to the white-gold papal styles, which planned to develop the basilica, her officials hung an American flag from the Knights Tower.
Less than half a mile removed, students from the Catholic University of America took a break from the day of the excerpt to think about what changes what Pope Leo could bring into church. The 21 -year -old Matt Castles, a nursing student from Westbury, NY, said that his family’s group chat was excited when the news met.
“I hope that more Americans of the Catholic Church will turn because I have the feeling that there is a stigma and many cases of the church that are frowned upon,” he said. “It feels like it is a big step for us to make sure that the church continues to go in the right direction.”
Liberal and left -wing Catholics expressed the hope that Pope Leo XIV would continue to commit Pope Francis for the poor, migrants and victims of the war and at the same time the Catholic Church a more inviting place for gay couples.
When Maura Keller, 30, a lifelong Catholic in the area of
“If the Catholic Church continues to move in this direction and say that God Marginalized, the poor, the unexpected, those in the LGBTQ community, I would like to see further,” she said.
However, others said that the new Pope did not seem to be a “Francis II”. In a speech from 2012, he criticized practices, which he described as “in contradiction to the gospel”, and referred to the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families that consist of same -sex partners and their adopted children”.
Community members and clergymen all over the country said they had already started to involve Pope Leo in their prayers and services. In Maryland, Monsignor Andrew Baker, Rector of the Seminar at Mount St. Mary’s University, south of the State Line of Pennsylvania and Gettysburg, contained the name of the new Pope when he celebrated the fair on Thursday.
“I felt great joy,” he said.
Especially chicagoer, happy In the news that the first American Pope came from her city.
The Rev. William Lego, pastor of the municipality of St. Turibius in Chicago, knew the new Pope when they were young seminarians in Michigan. “I think my classmate has it right now,” he said, stunned by his office. “You chose a good man.”
Democratic political strategist David Axelrod, who once helped Another long gravel chicago candidate Chosen in High Office, sounded equally shocked. “Saint smoke !!” He wrote on social media. “An American Pope! From Chicago !!”
But in front of the Pope’s hometown, other Americans said that they had never heard of the Pope until his name from the balcony of the St. Peter Basilica was announced in Latin. For many, the first reaction was: “Who?”
“I didn’t even know that there was a cardinal from the United States running,” said Danielle Charles, a 33-year-old insurance specialist in San Antonio.
In a divided country in which the partisans take every opportunity to score political points, republican and democratic activists quickly tried to analyze the social media account of Pope Leo XIV and other statements in order to be on the political spectrum.
Some liberals delightful in social media A contribution in February From an X account under the name Robert Prevost, which was linked For a national Catholic reporter opinion, the Vice President JD Vance criticizes To quote the writing in the family, neighbors and community over the citizens and the rest of the world. The heading of the article was: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to evaluate our love for others.”
Conservative on their part, quickly pulled the Pope’s voting documents From Illinois, who seemed to show that he voted in 2012, 2014 and 2016 in basic republican elections. Records show that his party affiliation is listed as not declared.
Father Robert A. Dowd, the President of the University of Notre Dame, said, he still hoped that Leo’s election for an American church, which was sharply divided, could prove as a “agreement”.
“It is clear to me that he will do what he can do to help people find similarities,” said Father Dowd. “I think the differences are enriching, but we can also be deeply split, and we want to make sure that our differences do not become split.”
In New York City, Rosario Gonzales, a 72-year-old accountant and Filipino immigrant, said that she had no preference for an American Pope and added that his selection “who prefers the Lord”.
“It doesn’t matter what nationality the Pope is,” she said. “He’s still my Pope.”
Although she looked closely at the news, she said that she didn’t know much about the new Pope and only heard his name for the first time today. Nevertheless, her first impression was positive. “He looks out of the role,” she said with a laugh. “He is Popeisian.”
The reporting was contributed by Julie Bosman from Chicago, Alessandro Marazzi Sassoon And Alan blind from Atlanta; Kevin Williams by Cincinnati; Sarah MervoshPresent Liam Stack And Leo Dominguez from New York; Coral Murphy Marcos from Oakland, California; and Lindsay Shachnow from Boston. Susan C. Beachy Research contributed.
