Pope Leo XIV Made History by Becoming First American Pontiff

Pope Leo XIV made history as the first American pontiff, leaving some experts both “surprised and excited” about his papacy.

Cardinal Robert Prevost was born in Chicago and has missionary experience in Peru, previously serving as the bishop of the city of Chiclayo — but many experts considered the 69-year-old cardinal as a dark horse in the race to become the next pontiff.

Dr. Charlie Gillespie, professor at Sacred Heart University, tells PEOPLE he is “ecstatic” about the selection.

“A lot of people are going to say they’re excited,” adds Gillespie, explaining that “this is a clear signal that the College of Cardinals felt the calling of the spirit to elect someone for the whole globe.”

Kathleen Sprows Cummings, a professor at the University of Notre Dame, adds that she is “still in a state of shock,” describing his election as an “unprecedented” move that wouldn’t have been possible even “just a hundred years ago.”

“The conventional wisdom was that here would not be an American pope,” Cummings explains, but adds that Pope Leo XIV “had the best chance of any American ever.”

“He was born in the United States, but he spent most of his life outside of the United States as a missionary, and also working in Italy, working at the Vatican,” she notes. “So he’s really a bridge builder among three different continents, which is perfectly consistent with what the church needs.”

Cummings was also surprised to see how quickly a new pope was selected, which she says “indicates that there’s a great consensus built around him” and “bodes well for the future of the church.”

As for his first speech, the expert said that one of the first phrases she heard was “God loves everyone.”

“He addressed his comments to all people of all peoples of the entire planet. So he’s a pope that’s going to continue to extend the church out into the world,” she adds.

Gillespie agrees, saying, “What you see here is someone who spent time in Peru and also took the name of Leo XIV, the great champion of the poor from the late 19th century who founded Catholic social teaching.”

As for the future, Gillespie is “interested” to see “how this Pope is going to respond to some of the biggest questions of the church.”

On the balcony, the pontiff struck a “slightly more traditional image” with his clothes, as opposed to Francis, who eschewed the traditional papal garb and just wore simple white garments.

Gillespie says that the new pope’s decision to wear a traditional red mozzetta cape could signify a more “traditional direction,” but believes that he will still be informed by the “openness” of Francis

“We saw a balance of the aesthetics of the traditional church along with language that sounded like Pope Francis,” he adds. “So for me that’s a really interesting way of seeing a sign of unity, of bringing people together.”

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people.com