Sunday, the parishioners pray during a mass at the Cathedral Holy Name in Chicago.
Nam Y. Huh / AP
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Nam Y. Huh / AP
When the United States Catholics attended Sunday services this weekend, it was the first time in the story that they did with an American pope sitting in the Vatican.
On Thursday, the Cardinals college selected Robert Prepost, born in Chicago, to direct the church of some 1.4 billion members worldwide. He took the name of Pope Leo XIV.
Some American Catholics were particularly proud of the election of the first American pontiff, which has family ties to several places across the country.
On Sunday, Meaghan Gibson, a resident of New Orleans, said that Pope Leo seemed “very earth to earth” and that she was excited by her election – even more because his family members formerly lived in the city.
“The fact that his family comes from New Orleans is incredible,” Gibson, 37, told Rosemary Westwood from the NPR members. “I hope he will honor us with his presence during his papacy.”
The grandparents of Leo, Joseph and Louise Martinez, lived in New Orleans before moving to Chicago between 1910 and 1912, according to the historic collection of New Orleans. Their house was sitting on a plot of land that was later taken to build a highway, discovered the museum and the research center.
“So, maybe if it had not been built, the family could still have been here,” said Gibson. “It is very surprising to see that it happens and knowing that his grandparents were married just down the street of our original church.”
Angie Spencer, who attended the services at the Catholic Purification Church of St. Mary on Sunday in Houston, told Lucio Vasquez to the Texas press room that there was a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the election of the first American pontiff.
“I have a little grandson. He just told me in church today:” Do you know what, grandmother? I’m going to be a priest and then I will be bishop and then I will be a pope “, said Spencer. “Even he catches up with him.”
She said that she hoped that Leo would continue a part of the work of his predecessor, Pope Francis, as handing her hand to the poor and trying to unify people around the world.
Spencer, who is 74, said, laughing that she “saw a lot of popes!” She added: “Pope Francis I loved, and Pope Leo will follow his traces and do even bigger things.”
On Sunday, at the Cathedral Holy Name in Chicago, people took selfies in front of a display panel congratulating Pope Leo – a native of the city – for his papal elections, according to Jake Wittich of Chicago Public Media.
The resident of Chicago, Sara Schroeder, said that it was a historic moment for the country and for the city. “Mass was beautiful,” said Schroeder. “The priest was very happy with Pope Leo. People applauded he came from Chicago, and people would applaud each time.”
Schroeder’s daughter, Caitlin Thigpen, added: “It is as if he were the hero of the hometown.”
On Thursday, the evening mass at St. Matthieu L’Apôtre in Washington, DC, turned into Thanksgiving for the new Pope, reported Jackson Sinnenberg de Wamu.
“While he begins his pontificate,” said Father Isaac Sagastume, “that the Universal Church receives his new pastor with joy and a renewed feeling of missionary zeal.”
