With the traditional Latin announcement of “Habeas Papam!” ringing across the Piazza San Pietro in Vatican City on May 8, the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, was introduced. Born and raised in Chicago, Robert Francis Prevost is the first pope to be from the United States. He also attended seminary at the Catholic Theological Union, just blocks from U-High. From hope to hesitancy, students reacted in many different ways to the election of a new pope.
“I like that he’s very pro-worker and pro-helping the poor. I hope that he helps workers and helps lower-income families, but also I hope that he does not roll back Pope Francis’s pro-LGBTQ+ policies.”
— Adam Tapper, junior
“Pope Francis basically changed the Catholic Church and what it stands by. He supported minorities, marginalized groups, etc., and he was really loving about it. When he died, I was really worried about what would happen. As the head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo may not have much global power, but he still has influence.”
— Azra Badur, sophomore
“America already has a big influence, like, why make the pope [American]? But I think he seems really nice.”
— Paige Matiello, ninth grader
“I’m interested to see what the new pope, Pope Leo the XIV, does. But, from what I’ve heard and seen, he is a little bit more on the flexible and the progressive side, and that is good to me. I just want a pope who is focused on bringing community and kindness to our world.”
— Victoria Syverson, sophomore
“At first, I was kind of shocked, like, ‘Oh, the first American pope!’ and I didn’t have a good feeling about him, but now I’ve been hearing a lot of good stuff about him, so I’m very excited to see what is going to happen.”
— Analia Arias, ninth grader
“From what I’ve heard, he’s, like, actually moderate on a lot of issues, which is surprising since Pope Francis personally hand-picked most of the cardinals in the conclave, and so I was anticipating a much more radical pope.”
— Valkyrie Laurence, sophomore
