ASSIS on the doorstep of the famous Saint-Patrick cathedral, on the 5the 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’m 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 have known when I was young, and that 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, Florida, says “Having felt the exaltation” By walking in and outside the Saint-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 says, 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.
The American president, Donald Trump, who had posted an image of him in papal attire earlier this week, also had complicated relations 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 “Brought in 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. Neither a Democrat nor a Republican, that he does not make a policy, but that he only says (to Trump): look at your people, look at your country”, replies Annie Elm, originally from Caroline du Nord, “Exalted” by the announcement of an American pope. “I think he has a very difficult task awaiting him, with all the troubles that the world is currently experiencing”, Esides Francis Fah, a Catholic from Los Angeles. For her, the fact that the new pope is American “Perhaps is the sign that he will be able to make something to bring peace and stability to the country.”
Reverend Ronald Jameson, who officiates at Saint-Matthew cathedral in Washington, is shared between surprise and satisfaction to see a new pope who should continue François’s work: “I’m 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 to me in my life”continues Jameson, who had welcomed him in his Cathedral of Saint 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 drawn by a more conservative ideology as we are currently in the United States with President Trump”hopes Azul Montemayor, coordinator in a 29 -year -old 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.
