Isle Catholics surprised, heartened by Pope Leo XIV

By Celia K. Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald

It was still early in the morning for Hawaii’s faithful when news broke of white smoke pouring from a chimney atop Vatican City’s Sistine Chapel — indicating that the 133 cardinals gathered inside had elected a new pope to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.

After an hour of tense waiting, the new pope’s identity was announced a little after 7 a.m. Hawaii time: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who would take the name Leo XIV.

Wait, many people thought. Who?

An American, it turned out — from Chicago, no less — who was well-known and respected among his brother cardinals but somewhat of a mystery to most laypeople. Still, it didn’t take long for the faithful to warm to Pope Leo, whose many years in Peru (where he also is a citizen) and in Rome have made him, as Honolulu Bishop Larry Silva said at a Mass of thanksgiving May 12, a “bishop of the world.”

In Hawaii, a good number of people were hoping for another cardinal to earn the votes needed to be named the Catholic Church’s next Holy Father: Cardinal Luis Antonio Tagle of the Philippines, also a widely respected leader and, importantly, native to the country where many local Catholics trace their roots.

The election of Pope Leo didn’t escape the attention of young Catholics. An informal survey of the eighth-grade class at St. Joseph Parish School in Waipahu found that practically all the students had expected Cardinal Tagle to be picked.

Though they were also surprised by the election of an American pope, 13-year-old Isaiah Roces of Ewa Beach said that “I don’t think that it really matters to us where he’s from.”

“It’s just about what he’s going to do and the significance of what he’s going to do, and if he will be a great leader for our church,” Isaiah said.

The students said they recognize that Pope Leo’s leadership will differ from Pope Francis, but they hope, as 13-year-old Chris Daeven Pasion-Ramiro of Waipahu said, that “he will continue Pope Francis’ legacy and approach to the modern-day church.”

Chanel Mendoza, 14, of Ewa Beach agreed, saying that Pope Francis “set a really strong foundation for everything that he wanted to be known … I don’t think it’ll be hard (for Pope Leo) to continue what Pope Francis wanted.”

At the same time, Chanel said, “I can’t speak on what he should be doing as a pope because I know they know what they’re doing.

“Based on what I’ve seen so far, he’s a good person,” she said, “(and) I hope he continues God’s work and considers the feelings of all people.”

Several of Chanel’s classmates agreed, including Kristopher Edano, 14, of Waipahu: “I hope he continues to follow out the mission that Jesus gave all of his disciples and he will make the right choices for the world,” he said.

“Pope Leo has dedicated a lot of his life to serving others,” said Leighton Njuguna, 13, of Waipio. “I just hope and pray over him that he will be the best leader for the church and its people.”

Bishop Silva shared a similar sentiment at the thanksgiving Mass, which he celebrated at the Co-Cathedral of St. Theresa in Honolulu along with dozens of priests and deacons.

“It is important that we lift him up in prayer because his is a burdensome office; it is not easy to be the pastor of the whole world,” he said.

Fewer people attended the Mass of thanksgiving than were at the memorial Mass for Pope Francis, but most pews were filled during the sunny late-afternoon liturgy.

Bishop Silva noted at the start of the Mass that “a short time ago” the world was mourning Pope Francis — who died on April 21, Easter Monday — but now “we thank God for the Robert Prevost who was elected and chose the name Leo.”

The joyous mood has been mixed with mystery as “he is a new pope and therefore a new person” to many people, Bishop Silva said in his homily. “We simply don’t know what Pope Leo will do with” issues like the ordination of women deacons, promotion of the traditional Latin Mass and the plight of immigrants across the globe.

And while people in the United States can be grateful he is from their country, Bishop Silva highlighted Pope Leo’s international experience in Peru and Rome as “a great asset.”

“He is not a citizen simply of the United States but of the world,” he said — “he was a missionary in Peru and has pastoral experience there.”

“I think the fact that he was a missionary is a great blessing to all of us because we too need to be missionaries,” said Bishop Silva, repeating one of the central aims of his own ministry as leader of the Diocese of Honolulu.

Though leading the global church won’t be easy, Bishop Silva said, “he will be able to carry it out with great joy because he can feel the prayers of this community of believers … whether we agree with him and everything he does or whether we don’t.”

“He is the one that the Lord has chosen to be our Holy Father and he is the one who, like Peter, calls all of us out to be missionaries, to proclaim that Jesus is risen from the dead.”