The bell of St. Patrick Basilica rang out Thursday afternoon as white smoke rose from the Sistine Chapel chimney, signaling the election of a new pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost, who will take the name Pope Leo XIV. Inside the Ottawa church, there was jubilation as parishioners learned the news. Erin Kinsella, along with friends, Virginia and Daniel visiting from Toronto, were attending mass when the announcement came. “I saw Father Steve come running down the middle of the aisle saying white smoke,” said Kinsella. “To be in the church with all of these brothers and sisters in Ottawa at the time when the pope was elected, when it’s announced, is just amazing.” Prevost, an American-born cardinal, emerged as the choice of the 133 voting cardinals after several rounds of voting. He becomes the 267th pope and the first to choose the name Leo since the turn of the 20th century. “We don’t know what’s going to happen over in the years ahead but, so far, I think he’s had a wonderful start, very big on the Eucharist, which I think is very important,” said Father Stephen Amesse, director of St. Patrick Basilica. “He seems to be a very humble man, and I think that is exactly what the church needs right now.” Among those reacting to the moment was parishioner Denis Girard. “It was just such a surreal moment, because we’re on our way to Rome today,” he said. “We’re on our way with Bishop Pierre-Olivier Tremblay to announce the first Pan-American Confraternity forum, which will take place here in Ottawa in 2027, and the Holy Father has a lot to do with this whole event. I’m very thankful that Pope Francis, decided to call this year the Jubilee of Hope. And I think we can all have a lot of hope because we need unity that comes from a world that needs to be unified wide right now.” Catherine Clifford, professor of systematic theology at St. Paul University, says Pope Leo XIV’s first message to the public emphasized peace. “His initial greeting is a wish for peace, a greeting he wished the crowds, the peace of the risen Christ but he wished peace for the whole world,” said Clifford, who also notes the symbolic weight of his papal name. “We have not had a Pope Leo since the turn of the last century. And Pope Leo XIII was known especially for initiating the tradition of Catholic social teaching. At the time of the Industrial Revolution, the pope began in his teaching through writing pastoral and encyclical letters, calling the church to pay attention and defend the rights of the poor, the rights of workers, to work for essentially social justice.” The National Capital Region is home to nearly half a million Catholic followers, many who are now embracing the spirit of a new papacy, filled with both tradition and hope for renewal. As news of the new pontiff spread, Virginia reflected on the meaning of the moment while walking through the Basilica. “We’re seeing these words and quotes from our old Holy Father, Pope Francis about hope,” she said. “And then this big sign of hope just happens right in our midst.”
