Pope Leo XIV live updates: Cardinal says Leo will be ‘darn good Pope’ as White House downplays Trump tensions – UK Times

Villanova University has congratulated its alumnus, Robert Prevost on his election as pope.

Leo completed his undergraduate studies at Villanova, in Pennsylvania, receiving a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics in 1977.

Speakers blasted the songs as the U.S. electors shared their thoughts on the first American-born pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost – now Pope Leo XIV.

“I took a look at Bob and he had his head in his hands and I was praying for him,” said Cardinal Joseph Tobin – Archbishop of Newark – describing the moment when he cast his vote in the Sistine Chapel. “And then when he accepted, it was like it was made for him.”

The cardinals met on a stage decorated with the Stars and Stripes and a Vatican flag at the Pontifical North American College.

Some said Prevost’s U.S. nationality wasn’t a factor. They were most concerned with “who among us can bring us together, who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak,” Cardinal Wilton Gregory said.

As Chicago-native Robert Francis Prevost walked out on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, sports fans in unison had one question.

James Liddell answers the all-important question: Does the American Pope root for the Chicago Cubs or the Chicago White Sox?

Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, chose to spend his first night as pontiff at his old residence, in a sign he may break with tradition.

Leo spent Thursday night in the Sant’Uffizio Palace, and not the Apostolic Palace where popes traditionally reside, Vatican news reported.

Francis chose to live in an apartment in the Santa Maria guest house.

In his first hours as pope, Leo went back to his old apartment to see colleagues, according to selfies posted to social media.

Vatican Media also showed him praying in the moments after his election before emerging on the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica to greet Rome and the world.

A Vatican expert predicts a potentially challenging dynamic between the newly elected Pope Leo XIV and US President Donald Trump.

While President Trump expressed excitement and honour at an American leading the 1.4 billion-member Catholic Church, the Pope’s past social media activity suggests potential friction.

But UK theologian Professor Anna Rowlands, who met Pope Leo XIV hours after his election, believes the new pontiff will navigate these complexities with a balance of diplomacy and conviction.

The Vatican has confirmed more of Leo XIV’s commitments, per The Associated Press:

• Saturday, he meets with the Cardinals
• Sunday, he is set to deliver his first noon blessing from the loggia
• Monday, he has an audience with the media
• Friday May 16, he meets with global diplomats
• Sunday May 18, he celebrates his first Mass at St. Peter’s Square
• Wednesday May 21, he holds his first general audience

The new Pope has also been invited to travel to Turkey at the end of May to commemorate the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea – a landmark event in Christian history and an important moment in Catholic-Orthodox relations.

Cardinal Timothy Dolan has said he does not want New York Catholics holding “a grudge” against the new Pope because he is from Chicago.

Robert Prevost, who was elected as Pope Leo XIV, on Thursday, grew up on the city’s south side.

“I just hope that you all in New York don’t have a grudge against Pope Leo because he’s from Chicago, we need to get that out of the way,” Dolan, who is the Archbishop of New York, said in a video on Friday.

“What’s beautiful about it is the very fact that… I mean, we, the people of the United States are proud.”

He added: “At least nobody’s ever going to ask me ‘do you think there’s going to be an American pope?’ Well we got one!”

Dolan also pointed out that technically there had already been a Pope from “the Americas” in Leo’s predecessor Pope Francis.