Here’s what U.S. Catholics are saying about the election of Pope Leo XIV

When Catholics across the U.S. attended Sunday services this weekend, it was the first time in history they had done so with an American pope sitting in the Vatican.

On Thursday, the College of Cardinals selected Chicago-born Robert Prevost to lead the church of some 1.4 billion adherents worldwide. He took the name Pope Leo XIV.

Some U.S. Catholics took particular pride in the election of the first American pontiff, who has familial ties to multiple places across the country.

On Sunday, New Orleans resident Meaghan Gibson said Pope Leo seems “very down to Earth” and that she was excited by his election — even more because members of his family once lived in the city.

“The fact that his family comes from New Orleans is amazing,” Gibson, 37, told NPR member station WWNO’s Rosemary Westwood. “Hopefully he will grace us with his presence sometime during his papacy.”

Leo’s grandparents Joseph and Louise Martinez lived in New Orleans before moving to Chicago sometime between 1910 and 1912, according to the Historic New Orleans Collection. Their home sat on a plot of land that was later taken to build a highway, the museum and research center discovered.

“So possibly if that had not been built, the family might’ve still been here,” Gibson said. “It’s very amazing to see that happen and know his grandparents got married just down the street from our home church.”

Angie Spencer, who was attending services at St. Mary of the Purification Catholic Church in Houston on Sunday, told The Texas Newsroom’s Lucio Vasquez that there’s a lot of enthusiasm surrounding the election of the first American pontiff.

“I have a little grandson. He just told me in church today, ‘You know what, grandma? I’m going to be a priest and then I’m going to be a bishop and then I’m going to be a pope,'” Spencer said. “Even he’s catching onto it.”

She said she hoped Leo would continue some of the work of his predecessor, Pope Francis, such as reaching out to the poor and trying to unify people across the world.

Spencer, who is 74, said with a laugh that she’s “seen a lot of popes!” She added: “Pope Francis I loved, and Pope Leo will follow right along in his footsteps and do even greater things.”

At Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago on Sunday, people took selfies in front of a billboard congratulating Pope Leo — a city native — on his papal election, according to Chicago Public Media’s Jake Wittich.

Chicago resident Sara Schroeder said it was a historic moment for the country and for the city. “Mass was beautiful,” Schroeder said. “The priest was very happy about Pope Leo. People were cheering that he’s from Chicago, and people would clap anytime that was mentioned.”

Schroeder’s daughter, Caitlin Thigpen, added: “It’s like he’s the hometown hero.”

On Thursday, the evening mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle in Washington, D.C., turned into a thanksgiving for the new pope, WAMU’s Jackson Sinnenberg reported.

“As he begins his pontificate,” said Father Isaac Sagastume, “may the universal church receive its new pastor with joy and a renewed sense of missionary zeal.”