The newly elected pope sets a first for the United States — and Villanova
Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, an Augustinian and Villanova alum, will succeed the late Pope Francis as Pope Leo XIV.
The plumes of white smoke that appeared from the Sistine Chapel at 1 p.m. Philadelphia time Thursday signaled the election of the first U.S.-born pope, generating a worldwide celebration.
But 4,200 miles from the Vatican, what followed was a mix of exuberance, bell-ringing, and borderline disbelief on the Villanova University campus.
With his official installation sometime next week, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost will become Pope Leo XIV, making him the first Augustinian to become pope.
He will also become the first alumnus of Villanova, one of the order’s most prominent universities, more familiar to the rest of the nation as a college basketball power than a papal incubator, to hold the title.
His election drew congratulatory notes from world leaders, including President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
But to those who knew him in the Augustinian community, he was “Bob,” someone they had dined with, who was comfortable talking about baseball, soccer, or Trump; “a really good person”; and “a prayerful person,” all with a well-cultivated sense of humor.
Although he had not been considered among the likely candidates to become the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics and the estimated 1.4 million in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, he was closely allied with the late Pope Francis and “probably knew most” of the cardinals who voted in the conclave, said the Rev. Paul Galetto, a former Villanova classmate and longtime friend.
Galetto, pastor of St. Paul Parish in South Philadelphia, said Prevost’s choice of the name Leo was significant.
Pope Leo XIII, who ruled from 1878 to 1903, championed social justice and workers’ rights in his influential encyclical Rerum Novarum. Galetto said it was unlikely that Prevost and Trump would find common ground on immigration.
Prevost was born in Chicago. He graduated from Villanova in 1977 and later became a citizen of Peru, where he spent most of his ministerial career. Succeeding Francis, an Argentine, he would become the second pope from South America.
Francis had summoned Prevost to the Vatican in 2023, and he became a cardinal that September. He ate lunch with Francis frequently, and was in charge of the process for nominating bishops. In what was an unprecedented move, he added three women to the voting panel.
While he was close to the often unorthodox Francis, the newly selected pontiff wore the traditional red cape and trappings of the papacy, something Francis did not do when he was elected in 2013.
In his first public remarks after his election, he spoke in Italian, then switched to Spanish — and said not a word in English as he addressed the crowd in St. Peter’s Square.
“Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church,” he said. “A church that builds bridges, dialogues, that’s always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue, and love."
After the white smoke appeared on the second day of the conclave, tens of thousands gathered in St. Peter’s Square and waited more than an hour for the senior cardinal deacon to announce: “Habemus Papam!” — Latin for “We have a pope.”
In Philadelphia, some sat in silence and quiet prayers at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul.
And with word that the new pope was one who had walked its quays and sat in its classrooms, bells began ringing on the Main Line campus on Lancaster Avenue.
Villanova’s president, the Rev. Peter M. Donohue, proclaimed it a “proud and extraordinary day” for the prestigious Catholic university.
The Rev. Arthur Purcaro, Villanova’s assistant vice president for mission and ministry, told CNN he was “perhaps more stunned than the world” over the cardinal’s elevation to Pope Leo XIV.
“I am just overwhelmed. I am in awe,” Purcaro said.
Understandably, Prevost was the buzz on campus.
“Literally every Instagram story is about the pope,” said Lillian Cruz Garcia, a sophomore nursing student.
Students talked to their parents on the phone about the news, and gabbed in groups about Prevost like he was the subject of the latest campus gossip.
“It’s exciting,” said Ivan Stratton, 18.
Prevost’s name struck a chord with Robert Beck, 83, who for 50 years taught math at Villanova. Indeed, he discovered, Prevost, a math major, was in his class and exhibited a certain diligence, according to the grade book: He was “a faithful attender of class.”
» READ MORE: See Pope Leo XIV’s Villanova college yearbook photo
Those who have had personal contacts with Prevost were effusive in their praise.
Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez said he was 38,000 feet in the air, on a return flight to Philadelphia from Rome, when a text came in announcing the new pope.
Having known Prevost from his time at the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, Pérez described him to reporters Thursday night as a man with a compassionate heart that radiates peace.
“He has a desire to listen to people,” Pérez said. “When he speaks to you he listens and you almost get the sense that you are the only person in the world.”
Julia Osęka, 23, a senior physics major at St. Joseph’s University, had personal encounters with Prevost and was deeply impressed.
“I think he’s going to pick up right where Pope Francis left off,” Osęka said. “I‘m sure he’s going to be a pope that listens to people on the margins who have not been given a voice in the past.”
Francis had appointed her as one of the first young laypeople to serve as a voting delegate for the most recent General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, a gathering in Rome where clergy discuss Catholic doctrine.
She said Prevost was “very warm and very welcoming” and was able to handle the synod and his Vatican duties. “I have no idea how he did that,” she said.
Jim Musselman, 67, knew another Robert Prevost — Robert Prevost the Cubs fan who lived on the wrong side of Chicago, the South Side, where the White Sox play.
Musselman, who lives in West Chester, also was a Cubs fan. When he met Prevost at Villanova, he recalled, “I would complain to him about how hard it was to be a Cubs fan in Philadelphia, and he would tell me about how hard it was to be a Cubs fan on the South Side of Chicago.”
Prevost’s election was a bonanza for Brian Kerwin, 67, who knew nothing about him despite having graduated from Villanova the same year.
That didn’t stop him from placing bets that Prevost would become the next pope.
“They thought I was crazy,” Kerwin said of his friends.
A $5 bet won him $250. Kerwin, who lives in North Jersey, is hoping Prevost’s ascendancy is a blessing for the New York Knicks, who are led by three Villanova grads and are two wins away from upsetting the Boston Celtics in round two of the NBA playoffs. Their next game is Saturday.
“We’re talking about miracles,” Kerwin said. “How does that happen? We had the Villanova Knicks. Now we have a Villanova pope.”
Staff writers Joseph N. DiStefano, Nate File, Max Marin, Rob Tornoe, and Nick Vadala contributed to this article, which contains information from the Associated Press.