The new American pope received a very American reception in Vatican City.
“USA! USA! USA!” chanted a boisterous group of young clergymen dressed in long black cassocks, pogoing in the center of St. Peter’s Square.
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The square — often a place for calm and prayer — felt more like a sporting event or a rock concert Thursday after the Vatican conclave chose Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost to be the next pope, making him the first American-born head of the Roman Catholic Church.
Americans in Vatican City expressed exultation, pride and surprise — stunned surprise — all rolled into one.
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“I am shocked,” said Joe Brodeur, 27, a deacon from Providence, Rhode Island. “I am feeling so much joy, that’s all I can say.”
In truth, the first emotion that swept this part of the square was confusion.
Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the result in Latin. The 40,000 people assembled in the square got the “habemus papam” bit — “we have a pope” — which elicited more cheers. But the actual name was swallowed up by the din.
“Who did they say?” a person asked over the clamor. “Did he say Robert Sarah?” wondered someone else, referring to the Guinean cardinal well regarded by bookmakers beforehand.
Soon Prevost's name began rippling through the crowd.
“È l’americano,” an Italian said.
Most Americans felt a rush of pride — though few had actually heard of the new pontiff.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Alec Maddox, 32, a consultant who lives in San Diego, although he and his two brothers, Tommy, 30, and Jack, 28, admitted they didn’t know too much about the new Pope Leo XIV, either.
“We would like someone who is doctrinally oriented and who doesn’t want to change that doctrine,” said Tommy Maddox, hinting at the more traditionalist, conservative wing of Catholicism, which had been critical of some of the late Pope Francis’ more progressive pronouncements.
Like his brothers, Tommy Maddox is originally from Utah. He's studying for an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania. “We’ll have to do some more reading on him, that’s for sure,” said Jack Maddox, 28, who is based in Georgia and about to leave the Army to train to become an architect.
They will learn about a pope widely considered a moderate, who has previously indicated that, like his predecessor, he favors a pastoral approach over doctrinal dogma.
Rebecca Tabiani, 48, likes the sound of what she has heard about Pope Leo. But Tabiani, a New Jersey native now living in Rome, is “disappointed” with the decision, agreeing with the long-held belief within the Vatican that the United States holds too much power as it is.
“I don’t like the message it sends to the world,” said Tabiani, who works in forestry. “I think it should have gone elsewhere,” because “as an American living abroad, I am ashamed of what’s going at home right now.”
Others expressed more balanced views.
“I was certainly surprised — he was not on my list,” said Matthew Laferty, 39, director of the Methodist Ecumenical Office in Rome. Originally from Crestline, Ohio, he is in charge of his Protestant organization’s relationship with the Catholic Church. “I think the choice shows there was probably some compromise among the cardinals.”
The Americans’ joy seemed to be felt by most people inside the square regardless of nationality, whether they were the people holding up a giant Lebanese flag or the Brazilian clergyman riding on a friend’s shoulders, draped in the Brazilian flag, making peace signs with both hands.
Thousands of miles to the west in New York City, television news cameras lined the sidewalk in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral, the iconic midtown Manhattan Catholic church.
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Alura Marini, 60, was at Mass at St. Patrick's when the new pope was announced. Marini said the church started playing "The Star-Spangled Banner," prompting churchgoers to erupt.
“I said: ‘Woah!’ I put my hand to my heart and said: ‘The new pope is American?’” Marini said, who comes to St. Patrick’s every day,
Marini said she hopes Leo will emulate the late Pope Francis, who is popular among progressive-leaning Catholic New Yorkers.
"I hope the pope will embrace everybody, no discrimination in any way," she said. "Embrace everybody the way they come."
Maria Andrade, 58, said that over the last three to four years, she has seen more events at her church, St. Patrick's Cathedral, targeted at younger Catholics. She said the selection of Leo gives her faith that the trend she has seen in recent years will continue.
"I see a revival, and I see it in New York City, of people looking for faith," she said. "This could be a really good message for the young people, and people who are just looking for spiritual guidance, to have a pope who's from the U.S."
Lesesne Hudson, 78, who was visiting relatives in New York from Charleston, South Carolina, said she, too, was optimistic.
"A lot of those people had fallen away by the wayside because of the pedophilia that was going on with the priests," she said. "Hopefully we've taken care of a lot of that, but it left a big black mark in a lot of young Catholics' minds."
"Francis did a lot to bring those people back into the church, and I'm hoping Pope Leo XIV will do even more to bring them back," she added.
Alexander Smith reported from Vatican City and Matthew Lavietes from New York City.
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