HABEMUS PAPAM! (WE HAVE A POPE!)

 By: Pat Gilley
Contributing Columnist

 It is with immense joy and extreme excitement that I share with you my thoughts on the recent election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the next Pope of the Roman Catholic Church. He chose as his new name, "Pope Leo XIV."

There are so many reasons why his election by his fellow cardinals is stunning and significant. For one, he is not Italian. For centuries, the leader of the Roman Catholic Church was an Italian. It was all about tradition. But then out of the blue, in the 1960s, we were given a Pope from Poland – an Eastern European country, who made significant changes in the Church as reflected in Vatican II.

Traditions began to fall by the wayside to reflect a church of the 20th Century.

In 2012, the Church dealt with yet another earthshaking situation when the Cardinals elected as Pope a man from the Western Hemisphere – Argentina, to be exact. We had a Pope from South America. Pope Francis hardly fit the role established over the centuries.

While many like me, had great admiration for Pope Francis, it is no secret that he had many detractors. Rigid members of the Church hierarchy resented the emphasis Pope Francis placed on inclusiveness in the Church. He left a legacy of including migrants, LGBTQ+ people, prisoners, and others on the margins of society, instead of emphasizing church teachings.

But it is important to note that Pope Francis’ inclusive welcome of everybody brought Catholics back to the fold and appealed to new members as well. Pope Francis emphasized "synodality" – an effort to listen to all opinions, and to seek advice, not just from officials, but from people in the pews, and especially from those who have been marginalized.

By all research I’ve found so far, I believe the Cardinals got it exactly right in electing Cardinal Prevost as our next Pope. Father James Martin, SJ, got to know Leo during the 2023-2024 Synod held in Rome. He recently wrote: "I know Pope Leo XIV to be a kind, open, humble, modest, decisive, hard-working, straightforward, trustworthy, and down-to-earth man. A brilliant choice." Could we ask for anything more?

But wait, there’s more . . . Pope Leo is "one of us." While I was a grade schooler in Streator, Illinois, watching Bishop Fulton Sheen (who was raised in Peoria, Illinois) on our black & white television in the evenings, Robert Prevost was growing up 90 miles away in south Chicago, Illinois, probably doing the same thing.

Like myself, he was raised in a devoutly Catholic family and was most assuredly a fan of Bishop Sheen.

But it gets better.... Robert Prevost’s maternal grandparents, Joseph Martinez and Louise Baquie, lived in the 7th Ward of New Orleans, La. – long recognized as a cultural stronghold for people of African, French, Spanish, and Native American descent. In 1887, the couple was wed at our Lady of Sacred Heart on Annette Street in New Orleans. Joseph claimed Haiti as his birthplace.

In the 1900 census, the couple was listed as residing at 1933 N. Prieur Street. Joseph was described as Black and was said to have an occupation as a cigar maker. Louise was identified as Creole of Color. The couple left New Orleans between 1910-1912 and relocated in Chicago. Like many Louisiana families they shifted their racial identity after moving to a big metropolis and went about as what people assumed they were as far as ancestry was concerned.

Their children –including Pope Leo’s mother – were born in Chicago.

And so, the saga of Robert Francis Prevost continues. Watch this place.