CHICAGO (WLS) — Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of america has been elected the 267th pope. On Thursday, he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as the brand new chief of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
He’ll be often known as Pope Leo XIV.
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“He was crying. You could possibly see his tears. I used to be within the entrance row up entrance, and you may see him simply getting emotional,” Kari Cote mentioned. “The holy spirit does superb issues, and I believe that is what we noticed right now. The holy spirit in motion.”
Chicago’s Cardinal Blase Cupich, who was a part of the conclave, was additionally prominently featured on this second for American Catholics.
Prevost, 69, from Chicago, Illinois, is the first-ever pope from america.
Pope Leo XIV was born on Chicago’s South Aspect and reportedly roots for each the Chicago Cubs and White Sox.
Pope Leo XIV’s brother spoke to ABC’s Alex Perez on Thursday.
He grew up in south suburban Dolton.
ABC7 Chicago’s Liz Nagy reported from St. Peter’s Sq. after a brand new pope was elected.
“(Pope Leo) XIII was usually known as the daddy of Catholic social instructing. So the pope, who began us alongside the way in which of supporting the rights of staff. Proper? Of labor, the labor unions, the poor, so he is type of signaling his need to be one with the folks and one with staff,” ABC Information contributor Father Jim Martin mentioned.
A pope born and raised within the metropolis that birthed the labor motion, the primary American pontiff will now be a supply of deeper religion for catholic youth.
“I need to go to the church the place he he went to church, and simply see how, how his life grew in Chicago. And perhaps I can mannequin myself after that a little bit,” Loyola pupil Caleb Ham mentioned.
Holy Identify Cathedral was in the midst of mass when the brand new pope was introduced.
Father Gregory Sakowicz discovered about Pope Leo XIV amid communion.
A parishioner broke the information to Father Gregory Sakowicz throughout communion on Thursday.
“I mentioned, ‘thanks, for sharing,'” Sakowicz mentioned. “When he was named, the second I appeared outdoors, right here in Chicago, the solar got here out… the cathedral exploded. You’d assume the Bears received the Tremendous Bowl.”
Chicago Archdiocese Bishop Lawrence Sullivan spoke with ABC7 Chicago in regards to the new pope.
The black mourning bunting that was put up after Pope Francis’ dying was eliminated Thursday, and changed with white and gold bunting.
The groundbreaking second Thursday is bringing hope to the pope’s new followers close to and much.
“It is largely only a signal of issues that I’ve been on the lookout for, as effectively, probably not anticipating this,” parishioner Michael Clark mentioned.
Holy Identify Cathedral will host a particular Mass Friday morning to mark the joyous election of Pope Leo XIV.
The Chicago Archdiocese spoke on the brand new pope from the world.
College students at Chicago’s Our Girl of Mount Carmel Academy reacted to the election of Pope Leo XIV.
The varsity held a mock conclave to show college students what occurs behind the doorways on the Sistine Chapel.
College students at Chicago’s Our Girl of Mount Carmel Academy reacted to the election of Pope Leo XIV.
“Positively, I need to see him focus extra on, similar to Pope Francis mentioned, the youth, I actually need to see as a result of there isn’t any church in case you do not give attention to the youth,” Ham mentioned. “Much more so seeing an American because the pope is basically simply gonna, like, push me to deep dive, even deeper into my religion.”
A Loyola professor spoke on the that means of Pope Leo XIV’s identify.
Ham prolonged his semester in Rome to witness the brand new pope being named.
“Everyone was texting me, ‘there is a pope. There is a pope.’ And I used to be like, ‘we now have to go. We have now to go,'” he mentioned. “Simply the power you felt, the gang erupted. It was superb. And I am so, so blissful, so excited to see him stroll out.”
“I heard folks speak like, I maintain listening to like, Chicago, Chicago. And I used to be like, ‘Oh my God, like, is he from Chicago?’ After which we lastly received service, and we’re like, looking it up as quick as doable,” mentioned Glenview native Mia Mannion, a pupil at Loyola Chicago Rome Middle.
‘An distinctive chief’
A pacesetter with world expertise, he spent a lot of his profession as a missionary in South America and most not too long ago led a strong Vatican workplace for bishop appointments. He’s anticipated to construct on Pope Francis’ reforms.
He labored for a decade in Trujillo, Peru, and was later appointed bishop of Chiclayo, one other Peruvian metropolis, the place he served from 2014 to 2023.
Prevost is a member of the Augustinian spiritual order – which he additionally led for greater than a decade as their prior common, which has given him management expertise of main an order unfold the world over.
Thought of a extremely succesful and completed chief, Prevost most not too long ago led the highly effective Vatican workplace for brand spanking new bishop appointments, the Dicastery for Bishops, assessing candidates and making suggestions to the late pope. He additionally served because the president of the Pontifical Fee for Latin America.
Whereas it’s usually mentioned cardinal electors would all the time draw back from selecting a pope from the US, as a result of America’s outsized world political affect, Prevost’s lengthy expertise in Peru might have mitigated these fears among the many electors.
“He is anyone that, although he is from the West, could be very attentive to the wants of a world church,” mentioned Elise Allen, CNN’s Vatican analyst. “You are speaking about anyone who spent over half of his ecclesial profession overseas as a missionary in Peru.”
Allen added that he’s seen as an apt chief in Vatican circles as a result of “he is in a position to accomplish issues with out essentially being authoritarian about the way in which he did issues.”
“Prevost is anyone who’s seen as an distinctive chief. From very younger, he was appointed to management roles,” Allen mentioned. “He is seen as anyone who’s calm and balanced, who’s even-handed, and who may be very clear on what he thinks must be finished… however he isn’t overly forceful in attempting to make that occur.”
Prevost earned his bachelor’s in arithmetic from Villanova College in Pennsylvania and went on obtain his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
Gathering in a classroom, the workers and college students on the Catholic Theological Union watched together with your complete world ready for the announcement Thursday.
The Chicago Catholic Theological Union mirrored on the brand new pope, who was born within the metropolis.
When Prevost was introduced, President Sister Barbara Reid needed to take heed to his identify twice.
She could not consider it.
The pleasure that certainly one of their very own graduates is now pope will take a while to sink in.
The Catholic Theological Union is reflecting on Pope Leo XIV’s time in class.
Reid was invited to the Vatican when Pope Leo XIV was elected cardinal.
She says she hoped the subsequent pope would proceed with the identical ideology and route of Pope Francis.
She mentioned Pope Leo XIV will do precisely that.
Pope Leo XIV was merely often known as Bob throughout his days on the college.
“He’s actually somebody that may be very effectively positioned to take up the mantle and carry these instructions additional that Pope Francis has began upon us,” Reid mentioned.
Prevost lived within the Augustinian Home close by in Hyde Park: the identical constructing the place Father John Lydon lives now.
Lydon is aware of precisely the type of Pope Leo shall be as a result of he lived and labored with him for 10 years in a poor neighborhood in Peru. He says Prevost was right down to earth with an amazing humorousness.
“‘He would cook dinner for our group. He likes cooking; he make pizza. In these days in Peru you could not get pizza. Anyone you sit down, have a beer and speak and watch tv with,” Lydon mentioned.
Lydon mentioned Prevost was very talked-about among the many parishioners within the Peruvian poor neighborhood they lived and labored in.
The brand new pope is more likely to put the small theological college on the map.
Prevost was later despatched to Rome to review canon regulation on the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas College and was ordained as a priest in June 1982. Later in his profession, he taught canon regulation within the seminary in Trujillo, Peru.
In October 2013, he returned to his Augustinian Province in Chicago, Vatican officers mentioned.
On Jan. 30, 2023, Pope Francis promoted Prevost to archbishop.
He was made a cardinal in January 2024.
In an interview with Vatican Information shortly after he turned the chief of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost mentioned: “I nonetheless take into account myself a missionary. My vocation, like that of each Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is.”
Requested in regards to the contributions of three ladies who have been made members of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost advised Vatican Information: “I believe their appointment is greater than only a gesture on the a part of the Pope to say that there are actually ladies right here, too. There’s a actual, real, and significant participation that they provide at our conferences once we talk about the dossiers of candidates.”
Cardinals took two days to pick a brand new pontiff, matching the timeline from the earlier two gatherings and suggesting that Prevost rapidly impressed his friends through the secretive course of.
Francis and Benedict XVI have been each revealed within the night of the conclave’s second day, whereas John Paul II, the longest-reigning pope of recent instances, was chosen on the third day in 1978.
In maybe probably the most sacred and secret second within the Catholic religion, Vatican tv confirmed, for the primary time, the precise election of the subsequent pontiff.
Prevost was seen accepting the management of the Holy See.
And applause from the cardinals who selected him broke the silence within the Sistine Chapel.
Pope Leo the XIV, as he’ll now be recognized, knelt for a quiet prayer alone as his life without end modified.
Martin is as surprised and as thrilled as anybody.
“I might have thought it was an impossibility. He is simply this type of good candidate, modest and right down to earth, decisive. He is a great supervisor,” Martin mentioned.
Native Response Pours In
A priest from Hinsdale spoke on the signifance of a pope from Chicago.
Former President Barack Obama mentioned, “Michelle and I ship our congratulations to a fellow Chicagoan, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV. It is a historic day for america, and we’ll pray for him as he begins the sacred work of main the Catholic Church and setting an instance for thus many, no matter religion.”
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker reacted to the brand new pope on social media:
“A historic second as we witness the primary American main the Catholic Church.”
“Hailing from Chicago, Pope Leo XIV ushers in a brand new chapter that I be part of these in our state welcoming in at a time once we want compassion, unity, and peace.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson mentioned, “The Pope is from Chicago. This is likely one of the largest moments within the fashionable historical past of our metropolis. Pope Leo XIV shall be a champion for staff all around the world. It is solely proper that he was born and educated in probably the most pro-worker metropolis in America. The Catholic Church has a robust custom of standing up for the poor and the weak, and I do know that Pope Leo XIV will proceed that custom. It is a super second for our Catholic group and for all Chicagoans. God bless Chicago. God bless Pope Leo XIV.”
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson reacted after native American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope.
The Midwest Augustinians mentioned in an announcement, “Pope Leo XIV is a person of deep integrity, a real listener, and a companion to these on the margins of society. We see him as a bridge-builder, rooted within the spirit of St. Augustine, strolling ahead with the entire Church as a companion on the journey. We’re honored that he’s certainly one of our personal, a brother fashioned within the stressed coronary heart of the Augustinian Order.”
CNN contributed to this report.
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