Newly elected Pope Leo XIV’s path to the Vatican made an early stop in St. Louis.
The Roman Catholic Church's cardinals on Thursday elected the 69-year-old native Chicagoan after a two-day conclave in Vatican City. Born Robert Prevost, the first American pope lived in St. Louis in the 1970s while studying to become a priest.
In 1977, he entered a novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine at a parish near the present-day St. Louis University medical campus. A novitiate is a period of contemplation, study and community service a person undertakes before formally becoming a priest.
The Archdiocese of St. Louis is still tracking down information about the pope’s early years in St. Louis, said Communications Director Brecht Mulvihill. He thinks Leo was at Immaculate Conception/St. Henry Parish in what is now the Gate neighborhood.
Mulvihill said a novitiate is a vital time in a priest’s development.
“Being a priest is a very outward thing, it's something that we practice,” he said. “It involves working with others ... It’s a period of consideration as to what his future holds and whether this is in fact his vocation.”
He hopes the election of the first-ever American pope will bring more people in the St. Louis region, where parishes are closing and merging, to the church.
“We certainly hope it brings about a renaissance,” Mulvihill said. “Pope Francis said that we as a church were not in an era of change, but a change of an era. And so I think we're going to see that continue no matter who were to be at the helm of the Catholic Church. We're certainly excited by the prospect of Pope Leo XIV and the possibilities it gives us here in St Louis.”
Parishioners react
Catholics in the region said they were pleasantly surprised to learn the next pope grew up in the Midwest.
St. Louis Archbishop Mitchell T. Rozanski said in a statement that the selection of Pope Leo “speaks to the need for communion” among people and that the new pontiff will follow in the tradition of his predecessor, the progressive Pope Francis.
“As we navigate this change of era, we look to Pope Leo for spiritual leadership, pastoral care of the Church and Her people, and steadfast commitment to the most vulnerable,” he wrote. “I pray in a special way that Pope Francis’s legacy of compassion for the forgotten continues to inspire us to view the stranger as Christ.”
Parishioners on Thursday evening gathered at a small Mass of thanksgiving at the Cathedral of Saint Peter in downtown Belleville.
“I was hoping that, you know, for us to have a pope from the United States for a change,” said 86-year-old Gloria Schwartz after the service. “I was pleasantly surprised.”
Martina Skorch, 23, of O’Fallon, said having a new pope is wonderful.
“It’s a very joyful, wonderful time for the church,” she said. “[I] haven't got to know a lot about him yet, since it's still pretty new. People weren't really expecting him to be elected.”
Parishioners said they hope Pope Leo can attract a new generation of Catholics, unite the church and bring peace to the world.
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