History has been made worldwide as Cardinal Robert Prevost becomes the first U.S.-born Pope. He chose Pope Leo XIV as his name.
Pope Leo XIV, 69, is from Chicago, Illinois, and will succeed the late Pope Francis, who died on Easter Sunday in April. He will be the 267th Pope.
The new pope was announced after the conclave’s second day of voting, with white smoke coming from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel.
With the announcement, many churches, dioceses, and Catholic organizations in Sacramento expressed excitement about a pope that hails from the United States.
Local organizations respond
The California Catholic Conference is the public policy for all California Bishops. CCC is a group that works for 12 bishops in the state where they lobby at the capital and California state legislature on behalf of the Catholics in California.
Kathleen Domingo, the executive director, said it’s an exciting time for Catholics in the United States because the U.S. is one of the countries in the world with the most Catholics.
According to Domingo, every mass throughout the entire world will pray for the Pope by name.
“Starting today, as there's a mass at noon going on at the Cathedral here in Sacramento, they have probably already prayed his name — Pope Leo the 14th,” Domingo said. “It's a really unitive moment where everyone comes together and says, ‘yes, this is our guy.’ The Holy Spirit has chosen him, and we are very happy to have him as our leader.”
Domingo said by choosing the name of Pope Leo the 14th suggests that he is the successor of Pope Leo the 13th, who was one of the first popes to write about Catholic social teachings.
“So really looking outward and saying, how do we help the poor? How do we help workers, how do we help families? How do we make sure that the dignity of every single person is upheld?” Domingo said. “What I'm thinking is Pope Leo, the 14th, will probably come back and fill in the gaps with our Catholic intellectual tradition.
She said she’s excited to see what he may write about that will help Catholics, especially here in the United States.
“I think it's just really important to know that Pope Leo, the 14th, is American born, and his experience is certainly worldwide,” He did a lot of missionary work in Peru, in different parts of South America. He spent a lot of time in Rome as well. So he really brings, I think, a global world view.”
Patricia Bosworth is the president of the Sacramento Discosen Council of St. Vincent de Paul. Bosworth said she’s excited that the new pope was elected quickly and she’s looking forward to seeing what Pope Leo XIV can offer them in their work, as they work with the poor.
“I hope that he will promote love of our neighbors, and particularly our neighbors that are in need,” Bosworth said. “Truly that he promotes unity for our church and the world, and I hope we can have an influence on some of the stuff that's going on.”
Bosworth said that St. Vincent de Paul has 53 conferences throughout California which includes Vallejo, Redding and Sacramento. These conferences help with rent, utilities or whatever the person needs at the time.
St Vincent de Paul takes funds and tries to keep vulnerable people in their houses, according to Bosworth.
“I think that's where our hearts lie, is to try and assist these people,” Bosworth said. “So our work won't change. We just will have the support of the Pope.”
Bosworth stated that most Catholics and St. Vincent in particular will offer their heartfelt congratulations to the new pope.
“We will assure him of our prayers and our support of him so that we can all continue on to make this a better world,” she said.
The Catholic Store Thursday, May 8, 2025, along Broadway in Sacramento.(Gerardo Zavala/CapRadio)
Local Catholic reaction
Father George Snyder was delivering mass to over 300 people at St. Clare Catholic Church when the announcement of the new pope was made. Snyder said he was about to start a prayer he refers to as “holy hour,” which was meant to ask for guidance for the conclave.
“Then a parishioner at the end of mass said, ‘Father, white smoke, white smoke!’ So I canceled the prayer because everyone [was] so eager to get on to their own computer or television to watch the white smoke,” he recounted.
The church then rang its bell and put up a banner that says “Habemus Papam,” which is Latin for “We have a pope.”
Snyder said his Roseville-based church is one of the largest parishes in the Diocese of Sacramento. To him, the election of Pope Leo is a good thing for his community because of his commitment to serving those in need.
“His leadership is centered to Christ’s mission to be the voice of the poor, the voice of the voiceless, the voice of those who are in need of justice in society,” he said. “The Catholic Church is not just a church of one particular race or color. He’s going to minister to all people of all walks of life.”
He said this bodes well for his church, which he noted is diverse with people from different cultures, races and lifestyles. Snyder said his church will celebrate the succession and the church’s now over 2,000-year-long history this weekend.
Reginald King is a sales associate at The Catholic Store located along Broadway in Sacramento. He said he was surprised by how quickly the decision was made, but noted that he and the store owners were happy with the decision.
“They really gained a sense of peace that he was inclusive in his first talk of all people and that he reflected well upon Francis, his predecessor,” he said, referring to the owners.
King was also surprised that the first American pope was selected this time around.
“There’s a lot more than the nationality that needs to go into the qualifications of the pope,” he said. “Typically, Europe for years dominated the papacy and we saw, with Pope Francis, a shift with the first Latin American pope, and now North American. We’ll wait and see how that will have its effect.”
The store experienced an uptick in business shortly after the announcement was made, but King said that’s just part of an “upward busy trend” the store has been experiencing recently because other stores providing Catholic resources have recently closed.
“We do think that there’s been this excitement now that the pope’s [been selected], so it’s a spike on top of an already upward trend,” he added.
King said the store will be well stocked with items celebrating the new pope and the upcoming Carlo Acutis canonization.
“Then we’ll have some book signings in queue for a local author that’s a priest,” he added.
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