Monday, June 23, 2025
"Oh my goodness, he’s an American!” That was all Father Dan Griffin, chaplain of Kellenberg Memorial High School’s Brother Joseph C. Fox Latin School, could say during a livestreamed event after the cardinals in the Vatican selected Robert Francis Prevost as the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church on May 8.
“It all developed very quickly. We hadn’t planned it,” Griffin said. “I went down to the normal P.A. system and rang the bells, and we have real bells in the pavilion, and then I announced that there was white smoke, and we had a new pope.”
“I can’t tell you how so many times in two days they were walking by my office and saying, ‘Is there white smoke yet?’” Griffin added, referring to the Latin school students. “They were very into the whole tradition of the church and the conclave.”
After the white smoke appeared, the classrooms’ internal TV system livestreamed the event, and students waited for about an hour before Pope Leo XIV appeared.
As they waited, Griffin, teacher Peggy York, Chaplain Father Tom Cardone, and chairman of the religion department Alex Basile — all members of the Apostolic Response at Kellenberg, or ARK, team — sat at a round table in the school’s television studio, offering live commentary.
Griffin said that when he heard the new pope’s name, he knew right away he was American, but he described it as a surreal moment, especially because he shared it with the student body.
“It’s a good teaching moment,” he said. “Bringing the gospel to all people, not just the U.S.”
Prevost, 69, now Pope Leo XIV, was born in Chicago, and received a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University. A member of the Order of St. Augustine, he earned a master’s in divinity in 1982 from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
He has spent much of his career as a missionary in Peru, eventually becoming a naturalized Peruvian citizen and serving as Archbishop of Chiclayo. In 2023 he was appointed by Pope Francis to lead the Vatican’s Congregation for Bishops, helping to overseeing the selection of bishops around the globe.
“You don’t just pick a name out of a hat,” Cardone said. “There is a thoughtfulness — just like Pope Francis was very conscious of the poor, and reaching out to all people in need, and that’s why he chose Francis” — for Saint Francis of Assisi.
Griffin reflected on Pope Leo XIII’s legacy as a champion of social justice and the working class, suggesting that the new Leo chose his name to show a similar commitment to helping people.
“It’s an excitement, that he’s new and he’s a little bit different than Pope Francis, but he is going to honor Pope Francis’s legacy as well,” Griffin added.
He never thought there would be an American pope. He had even told his students that it would never happen. Everyone sees America as a superpower, and so no one wants it to be a religious one, too, he believed.
Leo’s first official utterance from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, to the crowd of tens of thousands below and tens of millions on TV, was, “Peace be with you,” in Italian and Spanish, which Griffin translated for the benefit of the school’s students and faculty.
As well-wishes poured in from local leaders, the Most Rev. John Barres, Bishop of Rockville Centre, said, “With my brother bishops, the clergy, religious, and lay faithful of the Diocese of Rockville Centre, I give thanks to the Almighty God for the gift of our new Holy Father, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.
“As the 267th successor of Saint Peter, we pray Pope Leo XIV will receive every grace to strengthen the Church in unity and peace, preach Jesus Christ, the way, the truth and the life, and confirm the Faith,” Barres continued.
“With years of global missionary experience in Peru and leadership in his Augustinian community here in the United States, we pray, too, that his evangelizing pastoral charity and wisdom will guide the mission of the Church he now serves as supreme pontiff.”
Nassau County Executive Bruce Blakeman said, “Congratulations, Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope and proud son of Chicago. His election marks a new chapter of hope, unity and spiritual leadership for Catholics around the world. As we celebrate this milestone, we pray for Pope Leo XIV as he begins his sacred mission to guide the Church with wisdom, compassion and strength.”
