Mere minutes after white smoke began billowing out of a smokestack atop the Sistine Chapel in Rome, a similar scene began playing out at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul. Numerous media outlets interviewed members of the St. Thomas community who celebrated the selection of Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope.
From the KARE 11 story on the parade:
Students at St. Thomas organized a parade to celebrate the announcement today, reenacting the pope and handing out candy and ice cream sandwiches.
From the KARE 11 interview with Dr. Charles Reid:
Host: What do you think the reaction is around the world? As Americans, I would say, on average, we are thrilled. How do you think the rest of the world is reacting?
Reid: Yes, he’s American, but as the same time, he is a worldwide figure. He’s known for the worldwide Church. ... He knows the world and the world knows him.
From the WCCO-TV story:
We stopped over to the University of St. Thomas, where there’s plenty of cheering for today’s news. It's safe to say those who packed the Anderson Student Center were pretty pumped to see and hear from the new pope for the very first time, but the celebration didn’t end there.
From the Minnesota Star Tribune story:
Minnesota Catholics expressed delight Thursday as the Catholic Church welcomed its first pope from the United States.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, who was born in Chicago and has spent most of his career ministering in Peru, was selected the global leader of the church by the College of Cardinals at the Vatican. He took the name Pope Leo XIV. ...
The new pontiff’s mix of international and American experience could make him well suited for the role, especially at a time of heightened political polarization.
“I could see him being a great figure right now, both coming from an American and Western perspective but also having deep experience in other cultures,” Father Chris Collins of the University of St. Thomas said. “That’s really what you want in a global faith leader.”
From the KSTP-TV story:
There was a moment of joy and jubilation among University of St. Thomas Seminary students with the election of Pope Leo XIV.
“It’s thrilling,” exclaimed Brennan Crow, a seminary student at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s a little bit sooner than we expected, but we’re ready nonetheless to have a new pope.”
High above, white smoke billowed from the seminary roof. Down below, chest bumps, cheers, and an American flag waving.
Logan Halma is among a group of seminary students who met Pope Leo during a trip to Rome last fall for an evening meal.
“Yeah, it’s crazy, never thought it would happen,” Halma says. “I think that he’s very intelligent, has a really good sense of the church and what influences are going into that.”
There was even a cross-campus celebratory procession with one student portraying the new pontiff, using golf carts to get around.
From the MPR News story:
At University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, students held a parade to celebrate the new pope, and one dressed in white robes rode around in the back of a white vehicle – a scene reminiscent of Pope Francis in the popemobile.
“USA! USA!” the students chanted. Later, they poured celebratory root beer floats.
From the WCCO Radio interview:
Host: Did you imagine there was a possibility that an American would emerging as the new pope?
Father Chris Collins: I am totally shocked. I’m stunned, as are a lot of people. It’s really unbelievable.
Host: It is shocking for many different reasons. I’m very surprised as well.
Collins: There have been two maxims about who would never be a pope. One was that there would never be a Jesuit – and that happened. The other one is that there would never be an American, and now it’s happened.
From the OSV News story:
With the white smoke from the chimney as a backdrop, students, staff and seminarians gathered on the lawn outside SJV. The roughly 50 T-shirts and 70 mugs that the seminarians had made for the occasion went quickly.
The procession included a mock motorcade complete with decorated golf carts and seminarian Nicholas Deutsch dressed as a pope. As the procession wound through the University of St. Thomas’ campus, seminarians handed out over 200 boxes of candy and over 400 ice cream treats, even tossing some into the crowds of those gathered.
