Bishop Edward Malesic, Auxiliary Bishop Michael Woost, the faithful, students in Catholic schools across the eight-county Diocese of Cleveland and diocesan priests studying in Rome joined millions of Catholics around the world in rejoicing at today’s announcement that Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost – now Pope Leo XIV – was elected the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
At a press conference this afternoon at the diocesan headquarters, Bishop Malesic shared stories of his time in Rome when he was fortunate enough to cross paths with the new pontiff.
“I don’t know him well enough to compare him to Pope Francis,” the bishop said, but he remembered that the new pope was kind enough to act as his driver.
“I was sitting near him and mentioned that I needed a ride and didn’t have a car,” the bishop said. “And he offered to drive me.” The encounter took place shortly after Bishop Malesic was appointed bishop of Greensburg, Pennsylvania by the late Pope Francis.
He said the new pope strikes him as a humble man, someone who will be able to build bridges among Catholics around the globe.
(See photo gallery above.)
As far as Pope Leo being American, Bishop Malesic said he is very excited about that. “I am proud that one of our own is the new leader of the Church. He is a man who wants to extend truth and love to all who seek God and to welcome all to the Church … He is authentic. He loves the Lord, he loves the Church and he is a down-to-earth guy, which is not a bad thing. I am very happy and excited.”
Meanwhile, in Rome, two priests from the diocese who are studying there were fortunate enough to be in St. Peter’s Square when the new pope was announced and made his first public remarks from the balcony.
“I was happy to hear Pope Leo’s first words to the world, ‘Peace be with you.’ These words of our risen Lord inspire hope. May the peace of the risen Christ fill our new Holy Father that he might lead the Church in holiness,” said Father Kevin Klonowski.
“It was very moving to be there in the piazza of St. Peter’s for this historical moment. We knew Cardinal Robert Prevost was on the list of possible candidates for the papacy but did not think it was too likely he would be elected. However, as soon as we heard even just his first and middle name in Latin, ‘Robertus Franciscus,’ we knew it was him and were overjoyed to have an American pope. He also brings a broad awareness of the needs of the universal Church through his ministry in different parts of the world,” said Father Martin Dober, another diocesan priest studying in Rome.
Father Dober said the choice of the new pope’s name, Leo XIV, is very interesting. “I am curious to hear more about his reasons for choosing it. He may have had in mind Pope Leo XIII, who was pope from 1878-1903. Leo XIII was a very important pope and had one of the longest papal reigns in the history of the Church. He is especially known for his encyclical Rerum Novarum, which began a long course of papal encyclicals over the decades that attempted to respond to social problems in the light of Catholic faith,” he said.
“Leo XIII also had great reverence for the Catholic theological tradition and wrote an encyclical called Aeterni Patris where he urged the Catholic Church to appreciate the theology of St. Thomas Aquinas, because he best gathered the thoughts of the great fathers of the Church and explained their teachings in a systematic manner. Our new pope, Leo XIV, is himself a student and spiritual disciple of the great Church father, St. Augustine of Hippo,” he added.
“Perhaps Leo XIV also had in mind the example of another Pope Leo. Pope Leo I was one of the few popes to earn the title ‘the great.’ Pope Leo the Great reigned from 440-461 A.D. His theology was influential at the Council of Chalcedon, an ecumenical council which sought to better define the Catholic theology of the Incarnation,” Father Dober said.
“I look forward to hearing more about the reasons why Pope Leo XIV picked this name. But for now, I am simply thrilled that we have a new pope and I am excited that he is American. More importantly, I look forward to seeing how he will lead us deeper into our faith and our spiritual union with the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. In his first remarks on the balcony, one of his themes was the peace that Christ brings. Our world needs that peace, as does every human heart. We have been blessed with three wonderful popes already in my lifetime, and I cannot wait to see the blessings God will bestow on us in Pope Leo XIV.”
Students at several schools, including Seton Catholic in Hudson, St. Michael in Independence and St. Francis de Sales in Akron were glued to screens in their classrooms as the new pope was announced.
Karen Alestock, Seton Catholic principal, made the all-school announcement that a new pope had been elected. Students at recess cheered, jumped for joy, and huddled in prayer. Every classroom livestreamed the coverage eager to meet the new Holy Father.
Jennifer Conti, St. Michael Independence principal, said the middle school students were watching after they came back from lunch and recess. One of our sixth grade classrooms was in religion class reading scripture with the TV on in the background when the white smoke appeared. There were shouts of joy there were smiles, laughter and tears from some of our sixth grade students.
“Our fifth graders were actually at luncheon recess when the announcement came. Their teacher rewound the live video so that when they came back in, they could sit anxiously and await the white smoke coming from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel,” Conti said.
“Our fourth through eighth graders, then continued to wait anxiously in their classrooms for the announcement of the new pope’s name and then seeing the pope for the first time. The kindergartners relaxed on the floor of music class, looking up at the TV to see the first images of the new pope and one of our sixth grade classes Sat in art class, listening to Pope Leo speak Italian to all of us and wonder what words he was saying,” she added.
Conti said all students in grades K-8 have been learning about the life of Pope Francis and the process of conclave since we returned from spring break on April 28. The teachers all took a special interest in the entire process of conclave and sharing with our students what is going to be and what has been happening for these past two weeks.
“We are a Hallow for schools so we have been able to share with our students all of the wonderful prayers, resources and information from the Hallow app with our students and our parents, knowing that we were going to be going through this process for the next few weeks,” she said. “My teachers have shared that the most impressive part of teaching and learning about this process with their students has been the questions that they’ve asked. Our students have been so intrigued and interested and can’t soak up enough information about how the pope is selected, what happens right after, guessing what country the next pope would be from, anticipating what his new name will be … they were asking all these questions.”
Conti called this “the best day to be a Catholic school, principal and Catholic school teacher. I have never been so excited for our students as I was today to live through the history and share in the experience of watching them. See a new pope selected for our Catholic Church. I’ve had Holy Spirit goosebumps all afternoon, and I know many of our teachers did too.”
Photos from Rome provided by Father Martin Dober and Father Kevin Klonowski. School photos provided by St. Michael, Seton Catholic and St. Francis de Sales (Akron) schools.