In a message from the Catholic Diocese of Sault Ste. Marie, was welcomed into the role as the Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost 267th Pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
Born in 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, the 69-year-old is the first US-born Pope in history. He is a past provincial prior for the Augustinian Province in Chicago and also previously served as a missionary in Peru.
It has been a long while since the Church has had a Pope taking the name of Leo, said the release from the Diocese, the last being Pope Leo XIII, elected in 1878 and serving until his death in 1903.
“This was a very exciting moment as the world watched the white smoke come from the chimney. We welcome this news with great joy for our Church,” said diocese Bishop Thomas Dowd in a press release. “This is someone we are all called to get to know.’
He added that the announcement of Prevost as Pope was a “surprise.”
“Conventual wisdom did not see a citizen of the United States become Pope, but at the same time, he was a Bishop in Latin America in Peru, so he really is not just from the States, he is deeply embedded in a church of migrants, a church of the poor, a church that is international” said Bishop Dowd.
The release states that as the world comes to get to know the new Pope, local Catholics in Northern Ontario will begin to hear his name immediately during Catholic Mass. “The name of the Pope is mentioned during Mass, because he is the focal point of unity for the whole Church, and so by hearing his name and praying for him it is like being part of one big Catholic family” said Bishop Dowd.
As for what Bishop Dowd expects from a Leo XIV papacy, the release states Bishop was struck by the first words spoken by the new Pope as he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.
“His first words were ‘Peace be with you’, the words of Jesus after his resurrection from the dead, and if this Pope will be an agent of peace in our world, Lord knows we need that today.”