For the first time in the history of the Catholic Church, an American has been selected Pope. 69-year-old Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost selected the name Leo XIV Leo the 14th. Catholics in Athens reacted to the announcement. Reverend Michael Bremer is with the Catholic Center at the University of Georgia.
“So this man, Robert Prevost has become Leo XIV and has a new beginning in his own life, I just think about our seniors who are about to graduate also entering a new phase in their own life,” Bremer said. “But the beautiful thing from the old into the new is that God always remains the same. So, it’s just like this seamlessness that God will have.”
He spoke about the historic nature of an American as the selection.
“It’s pretty surreal. A few of our students were joking around that he knows what Portillo’s is, the great Chicago restaurant. He knows what deep dish pizza is, so it feel surreal that it’s so close.”
Bremer also discussed the Pope’s message of peace.
“I don’t speak Italian but the word that I was picking up on during his initial announcement was pace, peace. So, he was using that word a lot so the hope is that he brings a little bit more peace into the world.”
The new pope has spent much of his life outside the United States, spending many years as a missionary. He is also a Peruvian citizen.
