Days before he was elected, Pope Leo XIV (then Cardinal Robert F. Prevost) received a ringing endorsement from a Catholic school teacher in New Jersey – one the pope-to-be apparently read just hours before entering the conclave at which he would be chosen.
Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.
Hours after Pope Leo XIV presented himself to the world for the first time, the American bishops offered prayers to the new pontiff, and said that they “rejoice that a son of this nation has been chosen by the cardinals.”
