The election of a Chicago-born cardinal as the primary American pope on Thursday astonished Catholics and non-Catholics alike throughout america.
Some felt a burst of patriotic delight {that a} 2,000-year-old establishment had chosen its new chief, Leo XIV, from a rustic that’s about to have a good time its 250th birthday. Others hoped that an American pope would possibly assist clean the rifts between america and its allies which have widened underneath President Trump.
“To have the primary American pope is one thing new and one thing recent,” mentioned Alex Freeman, a 33-year-old occasion planner from Atlanta. Ms. Freeman was raised Baptist however attends Catholic providers sometimes at a traditionally Black Catholic church. “It’s a part of a brand new American narrative.”
Chicagoans, particularly, rejoiced on the information that the primary American pope was a local of their metropolis.
The Rev. William Lego, the pastor of St. Turibius Parish in Chicago, knew the brand new pope once they have been younger seminarians in Michigan. “I believe my classmate simply obtained it,” he mentioned, sounding shocked, from his workplace. “They picked a great man.”
The Democratic political strategist David Axelrod, who as soon as helped get one other long-shot Chicago candidate elected to excessive workplace, sounded equally shocked. “Holy smokes!!” he wrote on social media. “An American pope! From Chicago!!”
However outdoors the pope’s hometown, different Individuals mentioned they’d by no means heard of the pope till his title was introduced in Latin from the St. Peter’s balcony.
“I didn’t even know there was a cardinal from the U.S. within the operating,” mentioned Danielle Charles, a 33-year-old insurance coverage skilled in San Antonio.
In Queens, Rosario Gonzales, a 72-year-old retired accountant and Filipino immigrant, she mentioned she didn’t have a desire for an American pope, including that his choice was “who the Lord most popular.”
“It doesn’t matter what nationality the pope is,” she mentioned. “He’s nonetheless my pope.”
Regardless of intently watching the information, she mentioned she didn’t know a lot concerning the new pope and had solely heard his title for the primary time as we speak. Nonetheless, her first impression was constructive. “He seems the half,” she mentioned with fun. “He’s pope-ish.”
Ms. Gonzales mentioned she hoped the brand new pope will proceed Pope Francis’ outreach to non-Catholics and his compassion for kids and migrants.
