The trustworthy in Los Angeles, America’s most Catholic metropolis, have been delighted — and a bit shocked — Thursday to study a Chicago-born priest with deep roots in Peru had been elected to steer the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

The elevation of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, to pope marks the primary time somebody from the U.S. has been entrusted with what’s arguably the highest-profile place in international faith.

It was an consequence that caught many followers of the Catholic Church, which has been shifting its focus away from its shrinking base in Europe to the rising variety of trustworthy within the international south, fully unexpectedly.

“I had kind of discounted it, because, you know, we didn’t think that an American would necessarily be a good idea,” given the quantity of energy and affect the U.S. already wields on the earth, mentioned Father Allan Deck, a theology professor at Loyola Marymount College in Los Angeles.

“He really understands what is the reality of the different cultures of the United States,” Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez mentioned of Pope Leo XIV.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Occasions)

However as a result of Prevost, who has chosen to be known as Pope Leo XIV, spent a long time serving the church in South America and had risen to management of a global non secular order generally known as the Augustinians, Deck mentioned he’s uniquely positioned to unify Catholics across the globe.

He may additionally encourage a resurgence of the religion in the USA, the place many parish pews have been sparsely populated for many years.

“The choice is absolutely inspirational; I am thrilled,” Deck mentioned.

The announcement was doubly candy for Carolina Guevara, chief communications officer for the L.A. Archdiocese, who was in Piura, Peru, celebrating her grandmother’s one hundred and fifth birthday when the brand new pope was introduced.

“It’s really a reflection of our immigrant church to have a pope who is Peruvian and American,” Guevara mentioned. “To hear him break the tradition and speak in Spanish to address his hometown — that was such a beautiful moment as well. That filled our hearts.”

For Catholic Angelenos, and Peruvian immigrants particularly, “there’s going to be a sense of great joy,” she mentioned.

Pope Leo XIV seems on the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church.

(Alessandra Tarantino / Related Press)

And very like metropolitan Los Angeles, it’s exhausting to overstate simply how worldwide in scope the brand new pope is.

He was born in Chicago to a father of Italian and French ancestry and a mom of Spanish ancestry. He pursued his schooling within the U.S. and Italy. He’s a naturalized citizen of Peru, the place he was a priest for 20 years. He speaks English, Italian, Spanish, Latin and French.

His numerous background and broad publicity to totally different cultures had California’s Catholic group buzzing with pleasure, hope and a way of familiarity.

“He really understands what is the reality of the different cultures of the United States,” mentioned Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez. “Those cultures are a real blessing for us.”

Joseph Tomás Mckellar, director of Pico California, a big faith-based community-organizing community, was euphoric Thursday morning, minutes after Prevost completed his first speech as pope from the balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Sq. in Vatican Metropolis.

“I’m so emotional, I’m just kind of shaking,” he mentioned. “What we have is a pope who is a bridge builder, who is going to carry on in the footsteps of Pope Francis and ensure the church is proximate to those who are most excluded, who are on the margins, who feel lost in the turbulent times in our world.”

“The fact that they selected an American who went out [into the world] says something about the priorities of the church,” Mckellar added.

These priorities needed to change as a result of the church itself is altering so shortly.

Catholics collect on the Cathedral of Our Woman of the Angels in Los Angeles for a Mass to welcome Pope Leo XIV.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Occasions)

As soon as firmly anchored in Rome and drawing its high leaders from Europe, the Catholic Church has seen its parishioner numbers shrink in international locations similar to Italy and Spain, and barely maintain regular in many of the United States.

The actual development is nearly completely within the Southern Hemisphere — the place the church nonetheless dominates tradition, politics and plenty of facets of every day life.

For instance, Brazil has greater than 120 million Catholics, accounting for greater than half the inhabitants. In Mexico, practically 100 million Catholics make up greater than 70% of the inhabitants. And within the Philippines, greater than 75 million Catholics account for higher than 80% of the inhabitants, in keeping with the Catholic World Mission.

So when an Argentinian cardinal was elected pope in 2013, many within the church hailed it as a welcome, nearly inevitable evolution. That was till Pope Francis, as he selected to be known as, began performing in unpredictable methods.

He repudiated the luxurious trappings favored by some cardinals, and his hands-on devotion to the poor broke with many long-standing traditions, and added a populist aptitude to others.

For instance, on Holy Thursday, popes historically washed the toes of 12 male clergymen, a present of humility meant to echo Jesus’ washing the toes of his disciples the night time earlier than he died. Pope Francis shocked conservatives when he expanded the ritual, shifting it exterior the confines of the Vatican and making it a logo of inclusion, washing the toes of prisoners, girls and Muslims.

Francis created positions of authority for girls, together with placing a nun answerable for a significant Vatican workplace for the primary time within the church’s 2,000-year historical past. And whereas sustaining the church’s long-standing tenet that homosexual intercourse is sinful, he mentioned that merely being homosexual just isn’t against the law and met with LGBTQ+ folks from around the globe.

A person prays on the Cathedral of Our Woman of the Angels throughout a Mass to welcome Pope Leo XIV.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Occasions)

Progressives within the church hope Pope Leo will proceed the place Francis left off.

Leo has been criticized for earlier feedback concerning the LGBTQ+ group, Mckellar mentioned, however he trusts the brand new pope will proceed in Francis’ footsteps.

“I cannot imagine that he is not going to build on the opening of the doors of mercy, and welcome all people, including our LGBTQ+ siblings,” Mckellar mentioned.

Others questioned whether or not the brand new pope may have the attraction and social media savvy required to carry out because the entrance man for Christianity.

“One thing we still don’t know about Leo is whether he has the personality for the modern papacy,” mentioned Richard Wooden, president of the Institute for Superior Catholic Research at USC. “I think his humility comes across loud and clear, but does he have the charisma Francis had for the social media age? I suspect it will be a quieter version of that, if he has it.”

He’ll face different challenges as properly. Wooden identified that the Vatican is in actual monetary hassle.

“The Vatican has lost a lot of its American, European, African and Asian donors. Can he bring them back to the table?” he requested. “The church is rightly concerned with preaching the Gospels, but it is also a worldly institution that has to pay its bills, and the new pope can help solve some of that.”

Jose Mendez lifts his arms in prayer on the Cathedral of Our Woman of the Angels.

(Carlin Stiehl / Los Angeles Occasions)