Hopes for a New Pontificate

Within a few hours of the election of Pope Leo XIV and his masterful presentation of himself to the Church and the world from the central loggia of the Vatican basilica, I received an email from an old friend, a member of a prominent Catholic family in Nicaragua:

Habemus Papam: A Night to Remember

Being in St. Peter’s Square at the moment a new Holy Father was elected is an experience I will never forget. I hadn’t expected to see the white smoke. My flight home was scheduled for the next morning, and I had already made peace with the idea that I would miss the announcement.