Catholics in the Lakeland and around the world are celebrating after the election of Pope Leo XIV on May 8.
According to Bishop Gary Franken of the Diocese of St. Paul, there had been some speculation the conclave, the secret voting process by which a new pope is chosen, would take longer because of how many of the participating cardinals were new to the process. To be elected, a person must achieve a two-thirds majority of the votes.
“I think it was 106 of 133 elector cardinals were named by Pope Francis in the last 12 years from all parts of the globe, but they didn’t really know each other too well. … Obviously the Holy Spirit showed the way very quickly,” said Franken.
Leo was selected as Pope on the second day of the conclave on the fourth ballot. Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, Illinois he is the fourteenth person to choose Leo as his papal name, but the first American to be chosen to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
“Western news services are very quick to point out he's an American. I'm quite sure that in South America they are going to be very quick to point out that he's now from Peru. He's been there for more than a few decades,” said Franken.
Leo taught church law at the seminary and was pastor to a congregation in the city of Trujillo in Peru from 1988 to 1999, when he returned to Chicago. In 2015 he became a Peruvian citizen and was named bishop of Chiclayo, where he stayed until 2023 when he was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican department which oversees the selection of new bishops.
“He brings with him a certain background in terms of where he grew up. But I think even perhaps more importantly, he does bring the experience of ministry with the poor and in the Global South,” said Franken.
Leo’s first address to the crowds gathered at St. Peter’s Square and the world watching video streams was given in Italian and Spanish and focused on God’s love for all people.
“This is the peace of the Risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace. It comes from God. God, who loves all of us, without any limits or conditions,” said Leo.
According to Franken, Leo’s choice of name is likely a nod to Pope Leo XIII, who served from 1878 to 1903 “and is most known for the first social encyclical.”
An encyclical is a pastoral letter addressed by the pope to the whole church. Leo XIII authored 88 encyclicals, the most famous of which is titled Rerum Novarum.
“It’s a response to the social-economic challenges that were glaringly problematic in the end of the 1900s in terms of working conditions, in terms of poverty, and the fact that social inequality of that problematic degree was something that we as Christians have a real concern about. Not just because we're supposed to be good to those who are in need, as a charity, but also and ultimately, out of justice. Something's wrong here, and it needs to be looked at from the perspective of human dignity,” said Franken.
A mass celebrating the new pontiff is tentatively scheduled for the evening of May 15 at the St. Paul Cathedral Parish.
