BY BRADEN CARTWRIGHT
Daily Post Staff Writer
Local church leaders are shocked and excited about the selection of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, whose message will set the tone for Catholics around the world.
“It’s great joy that we have a new pope, gratitude that the Holy Spirit has brought us a new shepherd to guide the church,” said the Rev. Thomas Martin at St. Pius Church in Redwood City.
Caroline Go, office manager at the Church of the Nativity in Menlo Park, said she heard a lot of happy commotion when the news broke Thursday.
“Myself, I’m excited, I’m ecstatic, almost in tears that we finally have a pope,” Go said.
Rev. Lawrence Goode at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in East Palo Alto said selecting a new pope isn’t like politics.
The candidates aren’t as well-known, and most people are excited about the selection.
“It’s really the Catholic moment,” he said.
Goode said the reputation of Americans around the world made the pick a surprise.
“I had never heard his name before. So it was a total shock and surprise,” Goode said.
Cardinal Timothy Michael Dolan from New York was more on the radar of papal candidates from the United States, Goode said.
“I had made up my mind that Americans will never be pope,” Goode said Martin said the new pope – Robert Prevost, 69, of Chicago, now Pope Leo XIV – is a bridge between the Western world and the emerging world in the southern hemisphere, given his mission work in Peru. “Some cardinals were looking outside of the West, and I think he kind of fits that bill. Although he’s an American, he spent most of his time in ministry in Latin America,” Martin said.
St. Pius Church also reflects this shift, with a large Caucasian congregation that is seeing more Spanish-speaking Catholics, Martin said.
Masses on Sunday will include reference to the new pope, and there may be special masses when he’s inaugurated, Martin said.
Pope Leo XIV already has a clear message about humility, mercy and inclusivity that comes from his work as a missionary, Martin said.
Goode said he hoping Pope Leo XIV can carry on the message from Pope Francis about loving ordinary people.