Skip to content
As It Happened

Pope Leo XIV is an American and a Villanova alum | Opinion live coverage

As 1.4 billion Catholics around the world wait to meet the newly elected pope, Philadelphians offer their informed commentary as it happens with live analysis by the Inquirer Opinion Desk.

Philadelphia papal election commentators

  1. Bill Donaghy — a senior lecturer and content specialist for the Theology of the Body Institute. He has lectured extensively for over two decades both internationally, and across the United States, on the topics of the Catholic faith, marriage, family, and Christian anthropology.

  2. Michelle Francl-Donnay — chemist and Catholic theologian. She is a professor at Bryn Mawr College, an adjunct scholar at the Vatican Observatory, and a parishioner at Our Mother of Good Counsel in Bryn Mawr. Her two most recent books are “Prayer: Biblical Wisdom for Seeking God” and “Steeped: The Chemistry of Tea.”

  3. Tia Noelle Pratt — assistant vice president and director of Mission Engagement and Strategic Initiatives in the Office for Mission and Ministry at Villanova University. Dr. Pratt’s first book, Black and Catholic: Racism, Identity, and Religion will be published in September 2025 by University of Notre Dame Press.

  4. Sister Bethany Welch — a Sister of Saint Joseph of Philadelphia whose professional and ministerial roles have included nonprofit management, policy analysis, research, teaching, and advocacy. She was received into the Roman Catholic Church in 2005 through the RCIA program at Visitation BVM in Kensington, worked at St. Thomas Aquinas parish in South Philly, and is currently a parishioner at St. Raymond of Peñafort in northwest Philadelphia.

  5. Sabrina Vourvoulias — senior opinion editor for commentary, ideas & community engagement at the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the author of “Nuestra América: 30 Inspiring Latinas/Latinos Who Have Shaped the United States.”

At Villanova, they're celebrating a new pope and alum

Bells are ringing! Much is happening at Villanova! Glory to God! Prayers and Blessings for Pope Leo XIV!

— Tia Noelle Pratt

What does it mean to have an American pope?

I’m struck by what it means to have another order priest, especially one whose order and charism emphasizes fraternity and community as well as missionary discipleship.

This, coupled with his experience in Peru, positions him well to nurture that communion that Cardinal [Giovanni Battista] Re spoke about yesterday.

There is a certain humility that one has to have in sharing their life so closely with others in community. A vulnerability. You also have to truly listen — both to act in good faith and to say the truth with love.

The new pope is an American and a Villanova alum! Pope Leo XIV

Robert Francis Prevost, OSA — Originally from Chicago; former Prior General of the Augustinians; Spent much of his ministry in Peru and in Rome.

A Villanova alum!

I never thought I'd be at Villanova when an Augustinian and a Villanova alum was elected pope!

Why there is a wait before the new pope comes to the balcony

I wonder if the new pope wants to make sure his immediate family is informed first. Would you want to find out that your brother had just been elected pope on TV?

— Tia Noelle Pratt

In the Room of Tears where the new pope will be dressed there are three different white cassocks. When Pope John XXIII was selected he was so large they had to strap it on like a medical garment!

— Bill Donaghy

Can we read anything into the speed with which the pope was elected?

No. The speed doesn't tell us much. This happens on God's time, not ours.

— Tia Noelle Pratt

It is someone they all feel they know well, I suspect.

— Michelle Francl-Donnay

And that they can rally behind during these challenging times for the Church and the world.

— Bethany Welch

How does the pope choose his name?

[The name] flows from deep prayer I’m sure, and a sense of what figure of inspiration the world may need right now.

I think it comes after time spent in the Room of Tears. That’s the little antechamber within the Sistine Chapel where the new pope is dressed for the new role he’s been “gifted” and has a moment to process what just happened, usually … in tears.

— Bill Donaghy

Once a cardinal has the required 2/3 vote, he has two questions: Does he accept? If yes, he's asked the second questions: With what name will he serve? The name is known before the new pope leaves the Sistine Chapel. 

Here with go — white smoke! There is a new pope!

Overwhelming emotion. And exhale. Prayers for him and what he will carry. 

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced this level of joy through a screen before.

So much prayer and labor and heart has been invested in creating a container for the Spirit to work. May those efforts bear fruit in his acceptance of this mantle.

— Bethany Welch

A family of seagulls near the chimney where the conclave smoke emerges has captured people's attention

The sea gulls ... There is apparently a nest up there, and the gull is feeding a nestling.

Holy See Gulls?

I'm surprised that there hasn't been an account created on X or BlueSky for the Vatican gulls. (And yes, I looked ... and I am unrepentant).

— Michelle Francl-Donnay

Why has there never been a U.S. pope?

Why no U.S. popes? There have been hardly any popes from beyond Italy.

The last one before John Paul II was Adrian VI in 1522, from the Netherlands. (He was also one of the few popes in the last 1,000 years to keep his baptismal name.)

— Michelle Francl-Donnay

With the last three popes being from outside Italy — Pope Francis from Argentina, Pope Benedict XVI from Germany and Pope John Paul II from Poland — it is easy to forget that the vast majority of popes have been Italian.

Impatient? The longest conclave in history took three years. But this one won't.

The longest election lasted years!

In 1271, Gregory X was finally elected per compromissum (by compromise, where a small subset of the cardinals makes the decision after many failed votes) after almost three years. It was a start and stop process, not the conclave we know today and the cardinals were not sequestered.

After this interminable election, the procedures for election were tightened.

As the cardinals have lunch between votes for a new pope, foodies want to know what the meal might be like

My sense is that the menu will be less extravagant than we might imagine, given that it is prepared by sisters in the Domus Sanctae Marthae and shared in a common dining room setting, rather than banquet hall. 

— Bethany Welch

I have to say, for me (total foodie here), one of the most memorable scenes in the movie "Conclave" was the one in which the sisters prepare trays full of fresh tortellini for the cardinal electors' lunch ...

— Sabrina Vourvoulias

We think of Vatican City as the place completely enclosed within Rome where St. Peter's is, but it is split. The larger part, which is called the extraterritory, is outside of Rome in Castel Gandolfo, and that's where the papal organic farm is — and the Vatican Observatory where I work sometimes.

Why are non-Catholics interested in the conclave and papal election?

I think there's an inherent religious sense in most people. A kind of hunger for meaning and a longing for transcendence. The ancient rituals and liturgy of the Catholic Church speak into this longing. I think we also find something attractive about a new pope being elected because there's a kind of comfort in having a "holy father", a figure who strives to be a conscience for the world and an advocate for the poor.

I think the eyes of the world are on Rome because our age has been saturated by technology and we're losing touch with the authentically human. The concept of having a pope, or Pontiff from the Latin "pontifex" or bridge-builder, is very attractive. We're feeling a bit lost in this digital age, and the idea of a pope helps to humanize and bring us back to the truth that we are a human family. The mission of the pope is to always remind humanity that we are made ultimately for communion and love, not conquest and consumerism.

— Bill Donaghy

To add to Bill's comments about what is so intriguing to non-Catholics about this process, I wonder if some of it is the ways in which Catholic traditions pull in so many of the senses: the colors, the smoke, the incense, the bells, the water.

— Michelle Francl-Donnay

What's in the 'holy smoke'?

As a chemist, the smoke is an interesting bit of trivia. It used to be that they added damp straw to get the black smoke, but it didn't always send an unambiguous signal (most memorably in 1958 for the conclave that elected Pope John XXIII). Now they add a cartridge with specific chemicals to get the colors.

The chemistry is related to the chemistry of fireworks. White smoke is generated by a mix of lactose (milk sugar, the fuel), potassium chlorate (the oxidizer, essentially the igniter) and pine rosin. Black smoke is produced by a mixture of potassium perchlorate (playing the same role as the potassium chlorate), anthracene (coal tar) and sulfur (the fuel) which burns black.

— Michelle Francl-Donnay

When is the next round of voting at the conclave?

The next vote will take place at 11:30 a.m. (EST)

If no cardinal receives two-thirds of the vote, the ballots will not be burned at that time, but reserved until after the fifth round of voting, at 1 p.m. (EST)

The smoke emerging from the chimney after the 1 p.m. vote will be black if both of the afternoon votes (Rome time) were inconclusive.

— Sabrina Vourvoulias

Third vote of the conclave produces black smoke, again

Third ballot didn’t produce a two-thirds majority. Voting will continue [after lunch].

I was part of a Vatican conference some years ago for the 50th anniversary of Gaudium et spes and each meal included multiple courses, with wine pairings, and of course, post meal espresso. It made it almost impossible to focus on the sessions later in the day! 

Let’s hope they have a light lunch and a bit of a stretch too before the next ballot.

— Bethany Welch

As people await the smoke from the two conclave votes this morning, words about unity from homilies resonate

There are some beautiful lines from Cardinal [Giovanni Battista] Re’s homily yesterday at the Mass of Election about the role of the Holy Father in fostering unity/communion:

“Among the tasks of every successor of Peter is that of fostering communion: communion of all Christians with Christ; communion of the bishops with the pope; communion of the bishops among themselves.

[...]

Delayed smoke after yesterday's vote led to speculation

Lots of theories about yesterday’s delay free floating on social media last night, ranging from too wild to put on the blog, to (the utterly believable as an academic) one that suggested Cardinal [Raniero] Cantalamessa's ferverino (which follows the "extra omnes" ["all out"] order, but precedes the voting) went on for 50 minutes instead of the planned 15. He's not an elector, so that estimate is based on when he left.

The feverino is, generally, a pep-talk! In this context: the second of two "meditations" prescribed (from the rules set out for the conclave): "They shall entrust to two ecclesiastics known for their sound doctrine, wisdom and moral authority the task of presenting to the cardinals two well-prepared meditations on the problems facing the church at the time and on the need for careful discernment in choosing the new pope."

— Michelle Francl-Donnay

Cardinal Cantalamessa is a Capuchin priest and served as the preacher to the papal household under the past three popes: Francis, Benedict XVI and John Paul II.

— Sabrina Vourvoulias