Election of Leon XIV –
“Shock” and “Exaltation” in the United States for the first American pope
The Americans welcomed Thursday with surprise and pride the election of the first pope in history from their country.
A man holding a rosary and an American flag observes the smoke rising from the chapel of the Sistine Chapel, signaling the election of a new Pope, on May 8, 2025, to the Vatican.
AFP
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Bottal
Both surprised and proud, the Americans learned Thursday noon the election of the first pope in history from the United States, A news that challenges the books of bookmakers.
Sitting on the doorstep of the famous St. Patrick cathedral, on the fifth avenue in New York, Tim Anderson still does not come back from the election of Robert Francis Prevost, under the name of Léon XIV.
“I am in shock. And then there is joy, ”blows this 61-year-old man, who lives in the New York region. “It will be interesting in these times when there is so much madness to see if he manages to restore what I knew when I was young, and the churches were full and not empty as they are today,” he said, hoping to see the new Pope follow the steps of his predecessor, François.
Rosaria Vigorito, 66, from Miami, in Florida, known as “having felt the exaltation” by walking in and outside the St. Patrick cathedral, trampled every day by thousands of tourists. “I have only one problem with the Catholic Church, and I hope it will be corrected, and that women can finally be ordered priests,” she said, a small plastic crucifix around the neck.
Pope Francis had led many reforms within the Catholic Church, and opened doors, by appointing women to key positions within the Curia. But the hopes of feminist associations for the opening to female diaconate were showered at the end of the last world assembly on the future of the Church.
Trump and the Pope
The American president, Donald Trump, who posted earlier this week An image of him in papal attirealso had complicated relationships with Pope Francis.
After the return to power of the Republican on January 20, the Argentinian Jesuit, a great defender of the excluded, had not radouci the tone, believing that the expulsions of migrants “involved the dignity of many men and women”.
American and strong sensitivity, Léon XIV, 69, will he play the confrontation with the conservative president? “I hope that he will be a fair voice. Point. Neither a democrat, nor a republican, that he does not do politics, but that he only says (to Trump): look at your people, look at your country, “replies Annie Elm, originally from North Carolina,” exalted “by the announcement of an American pope.
By her side, Ruth Ann Deleon, a relative to whom she visits New York, begins to dream of “unity”: “I hope that the Pope will use her influence to unite us, to say not only to our president, but to the whole world that we have kindness, that the concern of the other is the only thing that can keep us alive.”
Dismiss
The Reverend Ronald Jameson, who officiates at St. Matthew’s cathedral in Washington is shared between the surprise and the satisfaction of seeing a new pope who should continue the work of François: “I am very proud, but I must say, completely in shock! I did not expect to see an American pope in my lifetime. ”
“Seeing a new pope who will be part of the Pas de François means a lot for me. François was very important in my life, “continues Ronald Jameson, who had welcomed him in his cathedral St. Matthew during a visit to the Sovereign Pontiff in 2015.” I am very happy to have heard (Léon XIV) talking about peace this morning in his first address. He follows the footsteps of François. “
In Houston, Texas (South), the surprise is identical: “I did not expect an American to be elected Pope. I just hope that he will carry François’ inheritance, being more inclusive, and that he will not be carried away by a more conservative ideology as we have at the moment in the United States with President Trump, “hopes Azul Montemayor, 29, coordinator in a school.
A few minutes before the announcement of a new pope, the bookmakers expected the election of the Italian cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Philippin Luis Antonio Tagle, even the patriarch of Jerusalem Pierbattista Pizzaballa, but not an American.
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