- Cardinal Robert Prevost has been elected as Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in history.
- Students and community members gathered at Saint Thomas More Catholic Church to witness the moment.
- Watch the video to find out what neighbors have to say.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
A moment of unity and healing Thursday, as Catholics around the world and right here in Tallahassee celebrated the election of a new Pope.
I’m Lentheus Chaney in College Town, speaking with church officials about the first U.S. citizen to ever to hold the papacy.
Cheers, tears and quiet prayers echoed through Saint Thomas More Catholic Church as students and community members watched history unfold. For many, seeing white smoke rise above the Sistine Chapel brought a moment of peace.
“It was just wonderful to have an opportunity to bring everybody together, a sense of unity, a sense of peace, where everyone could just enjoy the unifying aspect of what selecting a new pope brings to the Catholic Church,” said Sam Nunnally, director of campus ministry for Catholic Noles at Saint Thomas More.
Nunnally says that as the church welcomes the first American ever elected to the papacy, it's a time to reflect — and to trust in the spiritual process that brought Pope Leo XIV to leadership.
“You have people that might be your favorite, people that might represent a particular demographic or whatever, but really it’s more of a spiritual process that all the cardinals go through to elect that pope — hopefully very much by the Holy Spirit — and so you really have to trust that process,” Nunnally said.
WHO IS POPE LEO XIV? CLICK TO FIND OUT MORE
Pope Leo XIV’s election is more than a milestone — it’s a reminder that faith can unite and uplift communities in uncertain times.
In College Town, Lentheus Chaney, ABC27.
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