The journey to St. Peter’s Square and the waiting

That afternoon of May 8, my daughters were in front of the television, watching the live image of the Sistine Chapel chimney, waiting for the smoke that would announce the result of the conclave vote, which we thought would be unsuccessful. “White smoke!” shouted one of my daughters, and we were immediately overcome with a feeling of surprise at how quickly the new pope had been selected and joy at having a new pontiff.

Without thinking twice, we left the house, got in the car and headed towards St. Peter’s Square: it is such an important event for us and for our faith that we couldn’t miss it.

Getting to the square was quite an adventure: first we encountered surreal traffic, and then we were rescued by the multi-story parking garage on the Gianicolo, the hill opposite St. Peter’s, which allowed us to reach Bernini’s colonnade without further delay. We had seen on television that there were many faithful and pilgrims in St. Peter’s Square, but we were in for a surprise: another 150,000 people (the official estimate) had the same idea as we did and were rushing to enter through Via della Conciliazione into the square.

We didn’t get discouraged and joined the flow of pilgrims, finally gathering to pass through the metal detectors and enter the square. I still can’t believe it, but we managed to reach the square, near the obelisk, 30 minutes before the name of the new Pope was announced. Like everyone else, we didn’t know who it would be, and the joyful anticipation was palpable in the air.

We all had our cell phones ready to take photos or videos of the event, even though no one’s Internet connection was working. The square was full of pilgrims from all over the world, also there for the jubilee, and the Italian faithful were hoping that the new Pope would be Italian. For us Romans, the figure of the Pope is part of the “cityscape,” of the city’s deep identity. He is a presence we cannot do without, even for non-believers, and the pontiff’s origin does not matter much, because he is our bishop… In fact, we deeply love the previous pontiffs and rejoice and pray for them.

The proclamation

Finally, the curtain on the central balcony of the basilica was opened and the Cardinal Protodeacon pronounced the words we all know: Habemus Papam.

Thus, we learned that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost had been named Pope with the name Leo XIV. Among the Italian faithful, curiosity spread as to who the new Pope was and why he had chosen that name. Shortly thereafter, despite the weak internet signal, some of the faithful shared the news that the pontiff was of American origin and appeared alongside the other cardinals. On the giant screens in the square, we could see in his initial silence and in his moving gaze a great emotion that also enveloped us all.

The Pope’s speech began, longer and more intense than perhaps any other proclamation I had ever heard. Some key words resonated in our minds and hearts as if they were milestones: peace (repeated eight times), Pope Francis (twice), Rome (four times), world (four times), Church (nine times), bridge/bridges (three times), Mary, to whom he dedicated the last two sentences of his speech.

His statement of intent struck us immediately: “We want to be a synodal Church, a Church on the move, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks closeness, especially to those who suffer,” which reminded us of Pope Francis’ expression of a “Church on the move”, which, in Leo XIV, becomes the Church that engages in dialogue and “builds bridges.” These phrases touched our hearts like the verses of a very long psalm which Francis’ Church on the move intends to continue through a Church that engages in dialogue and unites with others to build a new world.

The new pontiff

In his initial greeting, Pope Leo XIV explained his background, his origins in the Order of St. Augustine, and his mission as a priest and bishop in Peru, where he obtained citizenship despite being born in Chicago (USA).

In early 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, but he was also president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which makes him somewhat of a Roman.

Perhaps the most striking episode is the one recounted by Sister Karina Gonzales in Vatican News, describing how Pope Leo XIV, when he was a missionary in Peru, would set out on horseback to reach all his faithful scattered throughout the diocese, even in areas that were difficult to access, in order to reach the Sierra del Norte, a mountainous region in the Andes. He was a pastor who carried his faithful in his heart and did everything possible to reach them and help them.

The name Leo XIV

Upon hearing the name, all the faithful present in St. Peter’s wondered why he had chosen that name. All experts on the subject recalled the connection with Pope Leo XIII (Vincenzo Gioacchino Raffaele Luigi Pecci, 256th Bishop of Rome, who was Pope from 1878 to 1903) who, in my opinion, stood out for valuing the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas in theological studies and for seeking dialogue with the world (we were after the conquest of the Papal States and in times of the development of modernism, capitalism, and, consequently, socialism). His work culminated in the encyclical Rerum Novarum (1891), which is still very important today. It laid the theoretical foundations for the social doctrine of the Catholic Church and represented the Church’s response to the problems of the time (which still afflict us, albeit in a different form).

We Romans, however, like to think that the choice of name was also inspired by the memory of Leo I, pontiff from 440 to 461, who is particularly remembered by his meeting with Attila, ruler of the Huns, to try to dissuade him from advancing against Rome (an episode depicted in a fresco by Raphael from 1513 in the Vatican Museums) and the events of 455, when he managed to save Rome from being sacked by the Vandals, protecting the population and the main basilicas.

At the end of this exciting and important day, I am reminded of some words spoken by Monsignor Prevost in an interview he gave in May 2023 to the editorial director of Vatican News, which depict a trait that we also like to think of as characteristic of the pontificate: “My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever it may be found.” Unworthily, we wish to follow this path…

Translation: Maribel Acaron