On most days, the Sistine Chapel is one of the world’s busiest tourist destinations, but this week it served as the world’s most secretive polling station as 133 cardinals voted for the 267th pope.
On Friday, the chapel was restored to its central purpose: A place of worship.
There, the newly elected pontiff, Leo XIV, held a private service for the cardinals, marking his first Mass as the leader of the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion members.
Leo, a 69-year-old from Chicago – who was until Thursday known as Cardinal Robert Prevost – made history on Thursday when he became the first pope from the United States.
It has often been said that cardinal electors would always shy away from choosing an American pope due to the outsized global political influence of the United States. It’s possible that Leo’s long experience in Peru – where he is also a citizen – may have mitigated those fears among the electors.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan, Archbishop of New York, told reporters on Friday that Leo’s nationality was irrelevant in the decision making process.
“He’s the father of the church universal; where he came from, secondary,” Dolan said.
Asked whether the cardinals chose Leo to counteract US President Donald Trump – who the pope’s predecessor Francis sharply disagreed with on a host of issues including immigration and climate change – Dolan said it was not a significant factor.
“It should not startle us that we would look to Pope Leo as a bridge builder. That’s what the Latin word ‘pontiff’ means,” Dolan said.
Cardinal Wilton Daniel Gregory, Archbishop of Washington, also dismissed the idea that the vote was a “counterweight” against the US president.
The conclave was not “a continuation of the American political election,” Gregory said, adding: “It wasn’t an election conclave – it was a desire to strengthen the Christian faith among God’s people.”
Leo alluded to that mission in his Mass on Friday, first speaking in his native English in thanking the cardinals for calling on him “to carry the cross” of the Catholic Church, before switching to Italian.
Leo used his first homily to urge the priesthood to show humility and make itself “small,” a call that strongly echoes the priorities of Francis, who devoted much of his papacy to reaching the “peripheries” of the globe.
He urged the church to continue its “missionary outreach” to the corners of the world where it is “desperately needed.”
There have already been plenty of overlaps between Leo and Francis, from Leo’s choice of shoes to his apparent criticism of Trump’s stance on immigration. Leo’s brother, John Prevost, even said his brother will be like “a second Pope Francis.”
But just how closely Leo will follow the Franciscan path is not yet clear. Leo’s past comment suggests he may tack more closely to traditional Catholic doctrine. Whereas Francis had made efforts to include women in ordained ministries, Prevost said in 2023 that he was not open to changing the tradition that confers priestly ordination only on men.
Now they are no longer sequestered, some of the other voting cardinals have begun to explain why the conclave chose Prevost as pope.
“It is clear from the speed with which Pope Leo’s election was done that Pope Francis had left the Church more united than naysayers would give him credit for,” Cardinal Arthur Roche, a British cardinal who voted in the conclave, told CNN.
Roche said while there have been reforms across recent papacies, the conclaves have also opted for candidates offering continuity on the essentials of Catholic doctrine.
“In Pope Leo we have a pastor of proven pastoral, theological and administrative experience combined with those human and spiritual qualities that are warmly welcoming and do not alienate,” Roche added.
Although Friday is Leo’s first day as pope, his papacy will officially begin on May 18 with an inaugural Mass held in St. Peter’s Square. His first general audience with the public will be held on May 21.
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