May 9, 2025

By Jim Towey

I was in Rome during the time between Pope Francis’ funeral and the meeting of the College of Cardinals to elect his successor, amid all the speculation. The man they ultimately elected was hiding in plain sight all along.

The experts who ranked the candidates considered Robert Cardinal Prevost a longshot at best. It was thought his American citizenship made him palpably unpapabile at the Conclave.

But they forgot his Peruvian citizenship (he acquired this when he became a bishop in that country ten years ago). They also discounted his nearly 20 years in the missions of South America, his academic credentials, his fluency in five languages (seven if you count written Latin and German), and his two years of full-time service within the Vatican bureaucracy that schooled him in the ways of the Roman Curia.

Most of all, they forgot how beloved he was to Pope Francis, a fact that would serve him well when the electors gathered to pick his successor. After all, if 80% of the electors had Pope Francis to thank for their seats in the Sistine Chapel, then they were going to elect someone to honor Pope Francis’ memory. Both labored in obscurity in South America, navigated the complex politics of the region well, and slowly scaled the ladder that ultimately would lead them to the balcony above St Peter’s Square to hear the words “Habemus Papam” echo through Bernini’s columns and refer to them.

(Author’s note: As with the last papal election, I can’t get out of my imagination the same joyful scene, except that the Cardinal comes through the red curtains and on to the balcony, but with a bucket of fried chicken, and announces, “Habemos Popeyes.” Please excuse the digression.)

An ‘American’ pope

My wife and I watched the freshly-minted Pope Leo XIV and listened to his remarks with sheer delight. And more than that, pride in our country. An American had been elected pope! I found it very reassuring that the cardinals made their selection on the merits, picked the best among them, and did not let political considerations or media pressure influence this decision.

Pope Leo made a great first impression on the world stage. His evident humility, gentleness and intellectual competence made his selection go down a lot easier for those viewers across the world with jerking knees and anti-American sentiments.

After the shock of an American pope wears off, I don’t believe it will be much of an issue. His love for the people of Peru and all of Latin America was evident from his enthusiastic pivot from Italian to Spanish when he expressed his gratitude to the people of Peru in their native tongue.  Living there for nearly 20 years, and not living in the United States for the last 25, gives him unique credentials and immense street cred. He did not deliver any remarks in English last night which both showed sensitivity to existing global tensions, and good judgment.

Like Mother Teresa

He is doing what Mother Teresa of Calcutta, another celebrated missionary, did. She was of Albanian origin but became a citizen of India to claim her adopted country as her own. Our new pope has a tight connection to South America that is authentic and unmistakable. But he is the spiritual shepherd for the Catholics of every continent, and he soon will make this clear.

Pope Leo is unlikely to have much of a honeymoon. The Vatican is awash in a sea of red, and I’m not talking about the cardinals in their robes; I mean red ink. The Wall Street Journal did a thorough investigative report this week documenting the extent of the budget deficits and financial turmoil that will greet the new chief of Vatican City.

He also faces the conservative-progressive impasse that his predecessor inherited and likely aggravated.  Pope Leo may draw fire from both sides because of his centrist views. My sense is that he will do what he thinks is God’s will and not play into the narrative that is so popular with the media. He will take his time before he announces a reversal or continuation of any of his predecessor’s controversial initiatives. His previous perch as prefect positions him to hit the catacombs running.

Children of the Beatitudes

But there is no doubting that he will maintain a preferential focus on the children of the Beatitudes, the world’s poor and powerless, particularly as technology further isolates them and artificial intelligence steadily attacks their human dignity and sense of belonging and worth.

His words last night merit repeating to rich and poor alike, to people of all faiths or none at all: “God cares for us, God loves all of us, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and among ourselves, let us move forward.”

(The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Aging with Dignity and/or its Board of Directors.)