The head of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis is smiling today upon word of the new pope.
Archbishop Bernard Hebda never imagined there would be an American pope.
"How wonderful to have all of you here on this day that is so important for us as Catholics, and really for men and women of goodwill around the globe," Hebda said Thursday afternoon.
The Archbishop told WCCO he's never met Robert Prevost - now Pope Leo XIV - but believes he will bring unity to the church.
Hebda also said he was struck by the fact that Pope Leo did not speak English in his address. Pope Leo spoke in Spanish.
"He said, 'I apologize, I want to take a moment to say a few words in Spanish.' He said no words in English," Hebda observed.
Noting the political divisiveness in the U.S. right now, Hebda did say the choosing of an American pope came as a shock to him.
"We're seen as being somewhat distant from the church in Rome, just in in terms of our own experience," explains Hebda. "And then the second part of it would be the the political matter. So how is it that the Holy Father is able to deal with with President Trump, for example? Whoever our American president (is), would those ties be too close or too distant?"
But the most important question Hebda had for Pope Leo is where his allegiance lies - south side, or north side.
"I haven't heard definitively whether he's a Cubs fan or a White Sox fan? Cubs," Hebda joked.
Leo's brother in Chicago had the answer; the native of the south side followed the White Sox.
Period.
“He was never, ever a Cubs fan, so I don’t know where that came from,” John Prevost said about his brother, the pope.
Prevost also told WGN television in Chicago that their household was split: mom was a Cubs fan and his father was a fan of the St. Louis Cardinals.
Leo was the youngest of three brothers in the South Chicago suburb of Dolton.
The third brother, Louis, lives in Florida.
Cardinal Robert Prevost has taken the name Leo XIV. The Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops was elected the first pope from the United States in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
In his first words as Pope Francis ’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo, 69, said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization. He wore the traditional red cape of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013. He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English.