As the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled, signaling the election of a new pope, American Catholics gathered in Rome expressed both surprise and hope for the future of the church.
Among them was Lucy Wade, a 20-year-old from Kansas City, Missouri, who was in awe of the historic moment.
“I did not expect this,” Wade said, her eyes fixed on the crowds flooding St. Peter’s Square.
She said she didn’t know a lot about each of the front-runners for the pope, but said “it’s very exciting that he’s an American.” Pope Leo XIV, the former Cardinal Robert Prevost, is the first American pope in the history of the Roman Catholic Church.
“I’m looking forward to finding out more about what he’s done in the past and his mission going forward in the coming days,” she told the National Catholic Reporter.
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With thanks to the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) and Camillo Barone, where this article originally appeared.
