My hometown pope is thought to have an opinion

What It Was Like Inside St. Peter’s Square When Pope Prevost’s Name Was Announced? A Catholic Witness from the Global South

VATICAN City. Tens of thousands of people crushed tightly together erupted in cheers and tears as the words “Habemus papam!” rang out from St. Peter’s Basilica.

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square was quiet as they waited for a Latin announcement that the new leader of the Catholics would be named.

As Cardinal Robert Prevost’s name was announced, a sound of shock rose up. It was something few people expected: The new pope is from the United States.

With a slate of 133 cardinal electors from all over the world — including many from countries that have long had little or no representation in the College of Cardinals — there was speculation that the new pope could hail from the Global South.

“I didn’t think of any American pope,” said Daniel Runde, a catholic from the US who was in St. Peter’s Square with two friends.

Christ is with us. The world needs his light,” Pope Leo XIV said in his first address to the world as pontiff. “Humanity needs him as the bridge to be reached by God and by his love. Help us, too, and help each other to bring us together, so that we are all in peace.

Some feel that an American pope may tip the balance of power for the United States, since he is the head of a church that includes Catholics across the globe.

Though he is American, the new pope holds citizenship in Peru as well, where he lived and worked for many years. He even acknowledged his community there in Chiclayo, briefly switching to Spanish in his remarks.

Runde thought it was cool that he spoke in Spanish as well. “It alludes to what Francis did, by continuing what he did, by being open and accessible to all corners of the Earth, and not leaving some behind.”

Source: What it was like inside St. Peter’s Square when the new pope was announced

What he saw in Chicago when he visited St. Peter’s Basilica: How many of us had faith in Pope John Paul XIV?

In the coming months, faithful and non-believers alike will watch to get to know the new pope, to understand what he wants the church to be about, and to figure out which direction he wants the church to go.

“I can’t say for sure,” said Gleason, “but just seeing a few minutes of him up there and the emotion that he brought — he just looked like someone who’s going to crush it.”

I became emotional when I heard that Pope Leo XIV is from Chicago. And I thought of St. Peter’s Church in Chicago’s Loop, where I used to go to Mass now and then.

It was usually a 5:30 Mass. Many people attending were already in their work clothes. When they stopped to pray on their way to work, they were watched by workers from the skyscrapers as they headed home.

The Masses were not large. The faces became familiar because they felt personal. Most of us were on our own, like Marta, stopping in to pray before her worknight began, or like me, at the end of a workday. When we gave one another the sign of peace, where else could we share this moment with people from all over the world? We might have all prayed for different things, but wished each other peace in our lives.

The visit of Pope John Paul II to Chicago in 1979 was a joyful time for many people from Poland. I put a rosary from Marta in my coat pocket when I covered the Mass in Grant Park, and when I returned it to her, she clutched it to her chest and said, “I feel him here.”

When Pope Leo XIV came out to speak from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, I thought of that other St. Peter’s, in Chicago. The working people at those Masses today might see Pope Leo, once known on the South Side as Father Bob, and tell themselves, “He has walked among us.”