In theory, we’ve got the first American Pope, Robert Prevost.
Born and raised in Chicago, university educated in Philadelphia. Parents French/Italian and Spanish – hence his command of four languages.
Did Leo XIV so much as mention the US during his first speech from the balcony? He did not. Maybe conscious that being an American cuts less ice in the church than being Latin American, he mentioned the Peruvian pilgrims in St Peter’s Square and the Peruvian church (where he ministered as a bishop) during his address, and spoke to them in Spanish. But zilch about his country of origin, nada in the English language.
It would have been fascinating to hear American-inflected English from that balcony. But we didn’t. This is significant. In theory, being an American aligns him with the most powerful country on earth – and Americans were previously written off as papabile precisely because of that. But he is an American who is plainly identifying as Peruvian.
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