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      A United Front for Pope Leo Among American Cardinals

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      One cardinal who cast his ballot said the pope’s choice of the papal name Leo might signal a particular interest in workers’ rights.American cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church described the historic papal conclave that concluded this week as relatively easy, with no arm-twisting or overt politicking.When their work was done — and as the outside world waited to learn the new pope’s identity — the cardinals inside the Sistine Chapel “went wild,” one recalled on Friday, when the man they had elected privately told them that he would take the name Leo.That name, they said, could be an indication of the pope’s plans.“Leo was the first modern pope, who spoke in defense of workers’ rights and what workers needed to have a just wage, not only to support their family and eke out a living, but also to build a patrimony they could pass on to their children,” said Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, referring Pope Leo XIII.That Pope Leo wrote a landmark papal document called Rerum Novarum in 1891, addressing the needs and dignity of the working class, which helped spark a social justice movement amid the Industrial Revolution.“It wasn’t the defense of the right to property for people to accumulate as much as they want, but for poor people who did not have property as a patrimony to pass on,” Cardinal Cupich said.The issues of workers rights, immigration and bridges across divides appear to be taking shape as the issues that could define the legacy of Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Pope Leo XIV’s Creole Roots Tell a Story of New Orleans

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      “This is like a reward from God,” a local parishioner said, as researchers unearthed more details about the lives of Leo XIV’s ancestors in the heart of the city’s Afro-Caribbean culture.One day in June 1900, a census taker visited the New Orleans home of Joseph and Louise Martinez, Pope Leo XIV’s grandparents. They lived on North Prieur Street, just north of the French Quarter, a neighborhood considered the cradle of Louisiana’s Creole people of color.Joseph N. Martinez was recorded as a Black man, born in “Hayti.” His wife, two daughters and an aunt, were also marked “B” in a column denoting “color or race.”Ten years later, the census came knocking again. The family had grown — there were six daughters now. Other things changed, too: Mr. Martinez’s place of birth was listed this time as Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. And the family’s race is recorded as “W,” for white.That simple switch, from “B” to “W,” suggests a complex, and very American, story.For much of the 19th century, New Orleans operated under a racial system that distinguished among white people, Black people and mixed-race Creole people like the Martinezes. But by the early 20th century, Jim Crow was the order of the day, and it tended to deal in black and white, with myriad restrictions imposed upon any person of color.The pope’s mother, Mildred Prevost, with her sons, left to right, Robert, John and Louis, outside Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago.via John Joseph PrevostThe selection of Robert Frances Prevost as the first pope from the United States, and the subsequent revelation of his Creole roots, have brought those historical realities to the fore — and an interview with the pope’s brother John Prevost, 71, connected them to the present day. More

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      John Prevost, Pope Leo XIV’s Brother, Reflects on His Election and Values

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      From his home in suburban Chicago, one of the pope’s brothers described Leo as “middle of the road” but not afraid to speak his mind.John Prevost knew there was a chance his brother could be elected pope. “Last Saturday when I was at church, one of the priests came over and told me the odds in Las Vegas were 18 to 1,” said Mr. Prevost, who lives in suburban Chicago. “He didn’t have a doubt. He thought it would definitely be my brother.”But Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was preparing for the conclave, shrugged it off when his older brother called from Illinois.“He said, ‘No way, not going to happen,’” recalled Mr. Prevost, 71, who is retired from a career as an educator and school principal.Of course, it did happen. Cardinal Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff. And for his friends and family back in Illinois, where the pope grew up, everything is different.In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday afternoon at his home in New Lenox, a tidy city of 27,000 people about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, John Prevost reflected on his brother’s ascent to the papacy, the new pope’s values and his American roots.Leo, whom Mr. Prevost is accustomed to calling Rob, “has great, great desire to help the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, the people who are ignored,” Mr. Prevost said. He predicted that his brother would carry on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Two Priests Reflect on Their Longtime Friend Bob, Now Pope Leo XIV

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      When Robert Francis Prevost walked onto the balcony, “it was as if a family member appeared.”On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was introduced to the world as Pope Leo XIV.But as recently as last week, he was a low-profile cardinal just dining out with a friend in Rome.The friend, the Rev. Art Purcaro, an assistant vice president and adjunct professor at Villanova University, had traveled to Italy to celebrate the 50th anniversary of his ordination as a priest. He planned to have dinner with his family at Sor’Eva, a traditional Roman restaurant on the Tiber, not far from Vatican City. And he wanted his good friend Cardinal Prevost, known to him simply as Bob, to join.The cardinal was unable to attend dinner because of the Novemdiales, the nine days of mourning and Masses that were being held in honor of Pope Francis, who died on April 21.But then as dinner was wrapping up, Father Purcaro recalled, in walked Bob. He held a black umbrella as he battled a rainy evening outside.“This is the type of person Bob Prevost is,” Father Purcaro said in a phone interview on Thursday. “He just popped in.”The two priests have known each other for decades. They worked together in Peru, and later spent time together working in Rome. Father Purcaro eventually returned to Villanova — the same school that the pope attended as an undergraduate.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What’s in a Name? In the Case of Leo XIV, Lessons in Bridging Historical Shifts

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      Pope Leo XIII, who served from 1878 to 1903, led the church into the modern world, emphasizing its moral authority beyond national boundaries. He defended the rights of working people and affirmed the value of science. What’s in a name? A lot it turns out.Matteo Bruni, a Vatican spokesman, told reporters on Thursday that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost’s choice to be called Pope Leo XIV had been a clear and deliberate reference to the last Leo, who led during a difficult time for the Roman Catholic Church and helped marshal it into the modern world.Leo XIII — who was head of the church from 1878 to 1903, one of the longest reigns in papal history — is known for his 1891 encyclical “Rerum Novarum,” which strongly defended the rights of working people to a living wage and set the tone for the church’s modern social doctrine. He became known as the “pope of the workers.”“Addressing the rising socialist threat — as the church saw it in the late 19th century,” Leo XIII “called on the church to reach out to a working class and to basically try to ameliorate some of these goals of capitalism and to benefit the working class and work out a amicable relationship between capital and labor,” said David I. Kertzer, a professor at Brown University whose book “Prisoner of the Vatican” examined the role of Leo XIII’s predecessor, Pius IX, the last sovereign ruler of the Papal States. “In that sense,” Leo XIII is “seen as a kind of connection between the pre-modern and the modern church.”“The choice of name is a moderate reference, in that Leo XIII was a pre-modern pope and conservative in many ways, but he was also a transitional figure reaching out to the poor,” said Professor Kertzer. “You could say he was a middle-of-the-roader.” The selection of the name Leo XIV “seems like a choice of following Francis, but taking the edges off,” he added.Leo XIII was a strong pope who was “very much engaged in the issues of his time,” said Robert Orsi, a professor of religious studies and history at Northwestern University. “He responded with authority and compassion to the industrial era” and defended workers’ rights and labor organizations.Choosing to be called Leo XIV could signal the new pope’s intention “to equally engage the issues of his time,” Professor Orsi said.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      What Does Pope Leo XIV Do Now? Here’s a Look at His Upcoming Schedule.

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      Here’s a look at his schedule over the next few days.The highly choreographed and secretive process of electing a pope technically came to an end when Pope Leo XIV was introduced on Thursday.But the oath of secrecy is frequently, and unofficially, kept for just a bit longer, according to Joelle Rollo-Koster, a professor of history at the University of Rhode Island.“We can only imagine — with an educated imagination” exactly what happens when the pope returns to the halls of St. Peter’s Basilica, Dr. Rollo-Koster said.Indeed, the next few days in the pope’s life will be a mix of private decisions and public presentations.The Vatican said that Pope Leo XIV will celebrate Mass on Friday at the Sistine Chapel with the cardinals who voted for him. On Sunday, he will recite the Regina Coeli at St. Peter’s Basilica.The end of the conclave does not mean the end of politicking. In addition to sharing congratulations, cardinals who elected the pope may more explicitly share why they voted for him, and what kind of leadership they want to see as a result.On Monday, he is scheduled to meet with journalists at the Vatican for the first time as pope.Pope Leo XIV must also soon decide where he wants to live. While most popes choose to live in the Apostolic Palace, Pope Francis chose to live in the Vatican guesthouse. The Vatican shared Pope Francis’s choice of residence about two weeks after he was elected. More

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      Liberals Are Cautiously Optimistic About Pope Leo XIV’s Views on LGBTQ Catholics

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      Pope Leo XIV has said little publicly about a place in the Catholic Church for gay and transgender people. Some thought the issue would not be key to his agenda.Pope Leo XIV ascended to the papacy on Thursday with little public record on L.G.B.T.Q. issues, a signature concern of his predecessor, Pope Francis, as well as a source of deep conflict between liberal and conservative Catholics.Nevertheless, proponents of greater inclusion for gay and transgender people in the church said they were cautiously optimistic, even if they might not know much about the man who will now lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. Until today, few people believed an American pope was a possibility.“We are sitting here Googling everything we can about the new pope,” said Francis DeBernardo, who runs New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based group that promotes L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church. “I think he is the best we could have hoped for.”The Rev. James Martin, a Jesuit writer and well-known proponent of outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, said he was “stunned” that an American had been chosen, but that he “rejoiced in the selection” of the new pope, whom he had met socially in the past.“I know him to be a down-to-earth, kind, modest, reserved guy, hardworking, decisive, not afraid of speaking his mind,” Father Martin said in a statement. “It is a great choice.”Pope Francis was praised by admirers for his openness to members of the L.G.B.T.Q. community, his support for those who provided them with ministry and spiritual guidance, and for the ways in which he changed the church’s tone — if not always its doctrine — on issues of gender and sexuality.We are having trouble retrieving the article content.Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.Thank you for your patience while we verify access.Already a subscriber? Log in.Want all of The Times? Subscribe. More

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      Cardinals Begin Conclave With an Oath

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      The cardinals at the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City vow to follow the rules of the conclave, the process by which the next pope is chosen.Inside the Sistine Chapel, the cardinals are taking an oath following the instructions of Pope John Paul II, in a document governing papal conclaves that he issued in 1996.The most senior cardinal reads an oath in Latin and the 133 cardinals will read along, promising to follow the prescribed rules. They also pledge that whoever is chosen as the next pope will “commit himself faithfully” to carrying out the mission of St. Peter, the first pontiff, “and will not fail to affirm and defend strenuously the spiritual and temporal rights and the liberty of the Holy See.”The cardinals also vow that the proceedings — including the voting — will remain secret, unless the new pope says that they can break that vow. Any notes taken during the conclave are supposed to be burned with the paper ballots, which are incinerated up to twice a day.That said, accounts of the secretive deliberations have sometimes trickled out after the election, and some Vaticanisti, as the Vatican press corps is known, have puzzled together about how some choices may have been made. There have also been cases of “secret diaries” by anonymous cardinals that later became public, as in the case of one recounting the election of Benedict XVI in 2005.The cardinals also pledge not to be swayed by external influences.Each cardinal then takes an oath in Latin, placing his hand on the Bible and says, “And I,” stating his name, “do so promise, pledge and swear. So help me God and these Holy Gospels which I touch with my hand.”Once the last cardinal has taken the oath, Diego Ravelli, the master of papal liturgical celebrations will give the order, “extra omnes,” Latin for “everybody out.” He is one of the few people who gets to stay inside the chapel during the conclave, but not while votes are counted. More