History was made Thursday afternoon, as the conclave of Catholic Cardinals chose Robert Francis Prevost to be the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.
Prevost, who will now go by the name “Pope Leo XIV,” is the first American-born Pope in the history of the Catholic Church, as he is originally from the Chicago area.
Diocese of Wheeling-Charleston Bishop Mark Brennan says Pope Leo will unite the church, just as his predecessors did.
“The Pope’s role is to promote unity among all members of the church, unity in faith and in love. (Pope) Leo is going to continue that tradition on,” Brennan said Thursday on MetroNews Hotline.
While the Cardinals’ choice of an American-born Pope is unprecedented, Brennan says it wasn’t the reason he was elected, and to him, it’s not his main concern.
“The fact that he has extensive background serving in Latin America, I think that was probably the key to allowing the Cardinals to choose a U.S.-born Cardinal to be Pope, rather than just seeing him as a representative of a big superpower,” Brennan said. “They see him as someone who has been among ordinary people.”
“I don’t think it honestly makes that big of a difference,” Brennan said. “Yes, cheer, cheer, someone from our country got elected, but in the long run, that’s not as important as just the fact that he’s a good man who will serve the church well. That’s what we’re going to pray for.”
Brennan mentioned that Pope Leo will face his fair share of challenges in this current era, one of those challenges being division amongst the people, whether it be because race, ethnicity, socioeconomic class, or any other factor.
He says promoting a sense a unity within the Catholic Church needs to set the tone for the world.
“Promoting unity among us, hopefully is a spill-over effect into the wider world,” Brennan said.
Another challenge Pope Leo will face, according to Brennan, is his ability to resonate with the younger generations.
“There’s a trend among teenagers and young adults of higher rates of depression and suicide. Another trend is lower religious participation. Those trends are related, I’m convinced of it,” Brennan said. “We need somebody standing up against this view that you don’t really need God in your life, you really don’t need faith in your life and that’s for weak-minded people. That is just false.”
At the end of the interview, Brennan said that Pope Leo would resonate with another group of people — West Virginians.
“He’s used to being among people who often get the short end of the stick in life. A lot of our West Virginia people are in that category, they get the short end of the stick in life. I think he (Pope Leo) will identify with people who live in this great Mountain State,” Brennan said.
Story by Aaron Parker, MetroNews