Barbara Reid

1 week ago | ncronline.org | Barbara Reid |Phyllis Zagano |Thomas Reese |Dan Misleh

Surprise, hope, excitement and pride were reflected in many of the initial reactions to Cardinal Robert Prevost on May 8 emerging on the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica as Pope Leo XIV. Prevost, a 69-year-old Chicago-born Augustinian friar who has spent much of his ecclesial career abroad, is the first pope born in the United States, a development once thought to be near impossible among Vatican experts.