He grew up in Chicago, went to college in Pennsylvania. Opinions are divided about whether he roots for the Cubs or the White Sox.* But one fact is clear: Cardinal Robert Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, the leader of 1.2 billion Catholics around the world.

In the hours before white puffs of smoke appeared above the Vatican roof, I’d been refreshing my news feed. There was a buzz, a sense of anticipation. People were gathering in St. Peter’s Square. News seemed imminent. When it actually happened I was away from a screen, grabbing a bite of lunch before driving to an appointment.

What matters, of course, is that it did happen, what most thought never could: an American pope. It seemed miraculous enough to have a pope from Latin America. And with Pope Leo we have that too: he’s spent decades in Peru and is a naturalized citizen of that country.

An internationalist, a linguist, a builder of bridges, Pope Leo XIV also chose a name that bodes well. His immediate predecessor is known for his emphasis on Catholic social teaching in the encyclical Rerum Novarum, and on the importance of combining faith with reason, as he revitalized the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas. (I learned these facts in my recent class; who says the liberal arts aren’t relevant?)

Now, the new pope begins the task of leading a fractious church. “Evil will not prevail,” he said in perfect Italian as he stood on the balcony and stilled the raucous crowd in the square. “We are all in the hands of God.”

*The matter has been resolved since I wrote this post: Pope Leo is a Sox fan.

(The Basilica of the Immaculate Conception sits next to the Catholic University of America, established by Pope Leo XIII.)