Pope Leo XIV declines request to speak at Villanova's commencement; Philly Mass celebrates pontiff with local ties

Villanova University junior Caroline Pirtle knew Cardinal Robert F. Prevost could be the next pope, and she was pulling for him.

In fact, she says she had a hunch it would be him.

As one of a handful of Villanova interns at the Vatican this semester, she had a front row seat for the funeral of Pope Francis, the start of the conclave — she watched as black smoke billowed from the roof of the Sistine Chapel during the first unsuccessful vote — and she had just taken a class titled “Popes of Rome.”

The Villanova University of Barbara Markham's and Robert Prevost's 1970s youth was more than basketball and late-night parties – it was a time of deeply felt social change.

Markham, a friend and classmate of Prevost who graduated from the Catholic university in 1977, believes Pope Leo XIV was “nurtured” in the spirit of that era, when the nation’s once-strict immigration laws began to loosen and the world’s attention turned to global poverty and suffering.

“Young people who I admired so much took very seriously global issues, at a time when it was easier to just worry about exams or fun times on the weekend,” said Markham, a history teacher at Padua Academy in Wilmington, Del.

Advocacy groups representing victims of clergy sexual abuse swiftly called on new Pope Leo XIV — the first American to assume the role — to take aggressive action to address the longstanding crisis, while some raised concerns about how he handled instances of alleged abuse before he was elected leader of the Catholic Church.

Leo — formerly Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, a Chicago native and graduate of Villanova University — has an opportunity to lead the church toward a culture of accountability and reform, Gemma Hickey, board president of the group Ending Clergy Abuse, said in a statement Friday.

“Let this Pope be remembered not for the global abuse crisis he inherits, but for how he ends it,” Hickey said.

The Rev. Peter M. Donohue, president of Villanova University, dashed off an email to the new pope shortly after his selection was announced Thursday.

“I said congratulations. Maybe I could talk you into being next year’s commencement speaker?” Donohue said in an interview Friday.

The new pope, 1977 Villanova alumnus Robert Prevost, replied: “Very funny. I don’t think I’m going to be able to do that,” said Donohue.

Leaving his spot at the altar, Archbishop Nelson Pérez talked to parishioners about the joy of having a local pope.

“We do gather with a sense of local pride, what a joy to say that the pope has Philly connections,” Pérez said, telling the story of how he found out about the conclave’s decision.

Perez was flying back to Philadelphia from Rome when a text from a church member came in: “Cardinal Robert Prevost, Leo XIV.” The archbishop recalled reading it, shocked to see an American had been picked.

Whispers of joy broke through the silence at Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, as hundreds of parishioners awaited the celebratory Mass in honor of Pope Leo XIV.

Among the attendees, Catherine Houpt, 75, prayed for the future of Robert Francis Prevost, a man she didn’t know much about just a few days ago.

Through the news, Houpt learned that Pope Leo was the first U.S.-born pope. But, what made her more excited were his ties to Villanova.

Yes, there’s already Pope Leo XIV bobbleheads for sale.

The tiny, jiggling popes are courtesy of the National Bobblehead Hall of Fame and Museum in Milwaukee, Wis., which is no stranger to producing religious figurines according to co-founder Phil Sklar. The museum has tackled a city rabbi, adult Jesus, and — yes — even the late Pope Francis.

“We were on chimney watch to find out who would become the next papal bobblehead,” said Sklar, who ordered his designer to create renderings for two different Pope Leo XIV bobbleheads as soon as the Chicago-born clergyman stepped on the Vatican’s balcony Thursday afternoon.

With his election as the Catholic Church’s next pope, Robert Prevost is set to reside in the Apostolic Palace, his holiness’ official residency within the Vatican City.

Back in the mid-1970s, it was a student residence that came to be Villanova University’s Burns Hall that Prevost called home.

The 19th-century stone mansion on the Main Line campus’s west side was once part of the wealthy Morris Clothier Estate. But by the time Prevost, a Class of 77’ graduate, arrived to earn a mathematics degree, the home had become a residence where, according to Prevost’s longtime friend and fellow Villanova alumnus Rev. Paul Galetto, the “students from Chicago” lived.

Philadelphia Archbishop Nelson Pérez was surprised to see the conclave selecting a U.S.-born cardinal as the new pope. But, having known Robert Prevost personally, Pérez said he was sure the church would be headed by a man who supports immigrants.

“I’m sure he is going to be extremely supportive and advocate for immigration all over the world,” Pérez told The Inquirer.

For the archbishop, Prevost's humanitarian work in Peru and language skills are indicative enough of how much the new pope —whom Pérez said speaks five languages and is fluent in Spanish — values diversity.

The Vatican says Pope Leo XIV will be formally installed as pope at a Mass on May 18 and will preside over his first general audience on May 21.

The Vatican has provided a schedule of Leo’s upcoming agenda that includes meetings with cardinals, Vatican officials, the media, diplomatic corps and the general public.

The Vatican also said that Leo had asked all heads of Vatican offices who technically lost their jobs when Pope Francis died, to return to work until further notice.

The Rev. Peter Donohue, the president of Villanova University, was eating lunch with friends in Chicago when white smoke began to pour out of the Sistine Chapel.

"I asked the manager to turn up the sound because we couldn't hear it," Donohue said in an interview on NBC's Today show Friday. "And when he walked out and they said, 'Roberto Francesco, cardinale,' I screamed at this restaurant."

Donohue said he spoke about the possibility of Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Villanova grad, becoming the next pope, but no one actually thought it would happen.

In his first homily as pope, delivered in fluent Italian, Pope Leo XIV urged fellow cardinals to be witnesses and announce the Gospel in the “many settings in which the Christian faith is considered absurd, meant for the weak and unintelligent.”

He warned that even many of the baptized are living “in a state of practical atheism” by reducing Jesus to a kind of superman. In a grave voice, he concluded by asking God for the grace “to move aside so that Christ may remain ... to spend oneself to the utmost so that all may have the opportunity to know and love him.”

Leo addressed cardinals in English at the start of his first Mass, saying “you have called me to carry the cross and to be blessed” and asking for their help to spread the Catholic faith.

The plumes of white smoke that appeared from the Sistine Chapel at 1 p.m. Philadelphia time Thursday signaled the election of the first U.S.-born pope, generating a worldwide celebration.

But 4,200 miles from the Vatican, what followed was a mix of exuberance, bell-ringing, and borderline disbelief on the Villanova University campus.

With his official installation sometime next week, Cardinal Robert F. Prevost will become Pope Leo XIV, making him the first Augustinian to become pope.

The Catholic Church has its first U.S.-born pope in Robert Prevost, or Pope Leo XIV.

In a way, the Philadelphia region has its first pope, too.

Though his roots are in Chicago, Prevost — who was elected to the church’s holiest post Thursday — began his pathway to the papacy at Villanova University, where he earned a mathematics degree in 1977 before rising in the church’s ranks abroad.

Prevost arrived at the Vatican in 2023. He is described as modest, approachable, and qualified. Since he arrived in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile, but he is well-known to the men who count.

His comparative youth when measured against other papal contenders means he could reign for a significant amount of time.

Hailing from Chicago and then living for years in Peru, Prevost served as a missionary and, later, a bishop. During his remarks from the balcony, he spoke in Italian and then switched to Spanish, recalling his years as a missionary and then bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. Cathedral bells rang in Peru to celebrate the representation. The new pope speaks five languages.