In truth, the first emotion that swept this part of the square was confusion.
Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the result in Latin. The 40,000 people assembled in the square got the “habemus papam” bit — “we have a pope” — which elicited more cheers. But the actual name was swallowed up by the din.
“Who did they say?” a person asked over the clamor. “Did he say Robert Sarah?” wondered someone else, referring to the Guinean cardinal well regarded by bookmakers beforehand.
Soon Prevost’s name began rippling through the crowd.
“È l’americano,” an Italian said.
Most Americans felt a rush of pride — though few had actually heard of the new pontiff.
“I’m ecstatic,” said Alec Maddox, 32, a consultant who lives in San Diego, although he and his two brothers, Tommy, 30, and Jack, 28, admitted they didn’t know too much about the new Pope Leo XIV, either.
“We would like someone who is doctrinally oriented and who doesn’t want to change that doctrine,” said Tommy Maddox, hinting at the more traditionalist, conservative wing of Catholicism, which had been critical of some of the late Pope Francis’ more progressive pronouncements.
Like his brothers, Tommy Maddox is originally from Utah. He’s studying for an MBA at the University of Pennsylvania. “We’ll have to do some more reading on him, that’s for sure,” said Jack Maddox, 28, who is based in rgia and about to leave the Army to train to become an architect.
They will learn about a pope widely considered a moderate, who has previously indicated that, like his predecessor, he favors a pastoral approach over doctrinal dogma.
Rebecca Tabiani, 48, likes the sound of what she has heard about Pope Leo. But Tabiani, a New Jersey native now living in Rome, is “disappointed” with the decision, agreeing with the long-held belief within the Vatican that the United States holds too much power as it is.
“I don’t like the message it sends to the world,” said Tabiani, who works in forestry. “I think it should have gone elsewhere,” because “as an American living abroad, I am ashamed of what’s going at home right now.”
Others expressed more balanced views.
