“Habemus papam, we have a pope!” exclaimed Levi Meyer, a junior at St. John Vianney College Seminary (SJV) in St. Paul who is studying in Rome and was in St. Peter’s Square May 8 when white smoke began pouring from a specially installed chimney in the Sistine Chapel.
About 30 minutes later — Meyer said in a videotape produced by SJV — the first American pope stepped onto a balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica and emotionally acknowledged the outpouring of support expressed by thousands in the square. Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost took the name Pope Leo XIV.
“My heart is filled with a lot of joy,” Meyer said. “I’ve been praying the rosary for Leo XIV. And I entreat you, all of you, especially to pray and to fast for Leo XIV and his pontificate.”
Charles DeReuil was also in St. Peter’s Square; the seminarian from St. Joseph in West St. Paul who is studying at the Pontifical North American College said he was with fellow seminarian Steven Lang of St. Michael in Stillwater and others.
“Initially, we were in shock,” DeReuil said of learning the pope was an American. “After the shock and surprise began to die down, I was filled with a sense of pride that the vicar of Christ was from our country and moreover from the Midwest.
“I believe it gave a number of us more profound appreciation for the Incarnation,” DeReuil said. “If we were so honored and amazed that the pope was one of us from the United States, how much more amazed should we be that God chose to become one of us and to take flesh?”
DeReuil was not alone in his surprise that an American would be elected pope. Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Auxiliary Bishop Kevin Kenney, Auxiliary Bishop Michael Izen and Bishop Emeritus Richard Pates expressed similar astonishment.
The day after Pope Leo XIV stepped onto that balcony, Bishop Kenney shared some of his perspective on Twin Cities Public Television’s (TPT) Almanac program, saying he had presided at a funeral at St. Olaf in Minneapolis when someone stepped up to whisper, “There’s white smoke, there’s white smoke.” Bishop Kenney watched television with others in the parish’s gathering room as the moment in Rome unfolded.
“We were all just amazed and overly excited,” Bishop Kenney said. “The emotion was just incredible. But to think he’s an American, an American pope. Oh, my goodness. Nobody ever thought in their lifetime they would see an American pope.”
Asked why that might be the case, Bishop Kenney said the American Church is younger than most of the Catholic Church worldwide.
“There’s always been a little bit of distrust in the American Catholic Church, and they’ve always felt that we were on the outside or not participating completely with Rome. And so, this is really an affirmation of the Catholic Church in the United States,” Bishop Kenney said.
Bishop Kenney followed up with an email to The Catholic Spirit, saying “When Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony, his composure and presence emulated confidence, composure and peace. It was a grand moment.”
Bishop Pates said the cardinals voting for a pope in the conclave in the Sistine Chapel might have been looking for a candidate who could handle the Vatican’s difficult finances, unify the Church and bring broad experience beyond the United States. Pope Leo fits the bill as a former missionary in Peru, former leader of the international Order of St. Augustine and most recently head of the office that advises the pope on the appointment of bishops, Bishop Pates said.
John Boyle, a professor in the Catholic Studies department at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, was in St. Peter’s Square with his wife, Dia, expecting to see black smoke on their visit May 8, indicating the cardinals had not yet elected a pope. Then came white smoke.
“There was wonderful joy in the square with the white smoke,” said Boyle, who was teaching in Rome. “I prayed my rosary.”
“We saw movement up there,” Dia Boyle said. “There was lots of excitement because we knew something was going to happen but we didn’t know who.” She heard the name Roberto, then Pope Leo. A rumor ran that the new pope was Peruvian, then comments that he looked American. He was from Chicago, someone said, then, “It is a Midwestern pope.”
Even before Pope Leo emerged from St. Peter’s Basilica, Bishop Izen presided at a Mass and prayed for “our pope” after white smoke billowed, breaking up an all-staff meeting at the Archdiocesan Catholic Center in St. Paul.
“Praying for him without knowing his name was powerful,” Bishop Izen said. “That was the only time that you could possibly say a Mass for a pope and you don’t know his name.”
At weekend Masses May 17-18, Father Joseph Johnson, rector of the Cathedral of St. Paul in St. Paul, distributed holy cards commemorating Pope Leo XIV’s election and the Mass inaugurating his papacy. Father Michael Creagan, pastor of St. Michael and St. Mary parishes in Stillwater, had a template created for the cards and offered it to priests to print at their parishes, Father Johnson said.
The cards also are an opportunity to evangelize as interest in the Church has grown since Pope Francis’ death April 21 and the election of Pope Leo, Father Johnson said, citing one statistic reported by Catholic nonprofit news agency Zenit: Global online searches for “how to become Catholic” surged by 373% between April 20 and April 26.
“That (report) became my incentive to do this for the Cathedral as a way of evangelization in addition to praying for the pope,” Father Johnson said.
Father Colin Jones, a priest of the archdiocese who is living at the Pontifical Irish College in Rome and Anne Cullen Miller, president of St. Paul-based Catholic Community Foundation, are among people in the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis who met then-Cardinal Prevost last November, as he fulfilled his duties leading the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome.
Father Jones was present at a Mass when the cardinal was chief celebrant, and Cullen Miller was in the congregation at a separate Mass when she visited Rome as part of a delegation with Foundations and Donors Interested in Catholic Activities (FADICA).
“All of us celebrating Mass that day were struck with how revitalizing and inspiring his homily was,” Cullen Miller said. After lunch with the cardinal, those in the FADICA delegation commented on “how easy to talk to and engaged the cardinal was. He really wanted to get to know our group.”
Father Jones, who is studying for his doctorate in biblical theology at the Pontifical Gregorian University and living at the Pontifical Irish College, said then-Cardinal Prevost presided at a community Mass at the Irish College and gave a talk about his work in the dicastery.
“He told us that he had a standing meeting with Pope Francis at 7:30 every Saturday morning to put before him the work that the dicastery had been doing throughout the previous week,” Father Jones said. “Cardinal Prevost said he was always moved by how prayerfully the Holy Father performed this task of choosing bishops. He could feel the Holy Spirit’s presence as these decisions were being made.”
The cardinal also shared a beautiful reflection on obedience within the context of being called to (the dicastery) by Pope Francis, Father Jones said.
“He said that one should trust the Church’s judgment as it is made manifest through the Holy Father. The Lord will provide the strength for what is clearly beyond the capacity of human strength to carry out. I remember finding these words very encouraging because they mapped on to my own experience of coming to Rome to do doctoral studies.”
Father Jones said he hopes that “Pope Leo XIV will bring his deep spirituality and love for the Lord to his ministry as the successor of Peter. I believe that it will be a blessing to receive from Pope Leo’s life of prayer and his readiness to do the Lord’s will. I hope that he will inspire and challenge us all to be credible witnesses to the power of Jesus’ resurrection.
“Being in the square and hearing Pope Leo’s first words to the world, I was really struck by his emphasis on the resurrected Christ,” Father Jones said. “I believe the Resurrection will be a big theme for him, as it always has been for Christ’s Church.”
