Pope Leo a 'very accessible' man who faces 'big challenge'
Pope Leo XIV is a "gentle man" who is "very accessible", a priest who has met him told Sky News.
Pope Leo, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru, was elected the first US pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
He emerged as the 267th pope just over an hour after white smoke poured out of the chimney above the Sistine Chapel in Rome on Thursday afternoon, where the conclave had been gathering since Wednesday to elect a successor to Francis.
Pope Leo went by the name of Cardinal Robert Prevost prior to becoming the leader of the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.
'What you see is what you get'
Asked on Sky News what the 69-year-old Pope was like, Father Francesco Giordano, who met the pontiff and is a professor of theology and a diocesan priest, said: "What you see is what you get."
Father Giordano said Pope Leo is "a very gentle man, calm, collected, thoughtful" and, describing how he first met the pontiff at the North American College last year, he said Leo seemed "very accessible".
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'A big challenge'
Sky events commentator Alastair Bruce said Pope Leo showed "great elegance and charm" as he appeared on the balcony of St Peter's Basilica to greet the crowds for the first time.
Noting how he wasn't one of the favourites to succeed Francis, who died last month aged 88, Bruce said: "Here Pope Leo the XIV has come from a surprising part of the world… the USA… and he has as big a challenge as any human being might have and what's more the loneliness of the papacy is his until the last heartbeat of his life."
'A man who grew up among protestants'
Charles Collins, managing editor at Crux Now, an online news outlet focused on the Vatican and the Catholic Church, said he was "really surprised" by Pope Leo's election.
"This is a man who not only grew up amongst protestants but American protestants, where you don't have one major protestant party, you have lots and lots of different types of protestants...
"So he will be very familiar with that aspect of ecumenical relations," Mr Collins said, adding "that's very important".
Mr Collins said: "He is a very good administrator and he has run a diocese, he has run a religious order and he has played a very significant role running one of the most major offices at the Vatican and frankly he is the first pope in living memory that's had that role, that's been able to do all of those things and I am looking forward to see what he does."
Who is the new pope?
On a more basic level, Mr Collins said, the fact Leo is an American means he will get better access to "really wealthy American Catholics" who could help solve the "financial crisis that's been hitting the Vatican".
Pope looked 'almost overwhelmed' on balcony
Sister Liz Dodd, part of the Sisters of St Joseph of Peace, told Sky News Pope Leo reminded her of Francis for how he looked "almost a bit overwhelmed, moved, particularly moved by the crowd" in St Peter's Square, where thousands gathered to see his unveiling.
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"You want a pope who knows he is part of the people of God… and much like with pope Francis it felt like he was lifted by that, he wasn't different or other to that, he was part of that community in the square which is encouraging I think at this point to see."
Asked about the challenges he may face going forward, Sister Dodd said it was "fascinating to have an American pope at a moment like this, there's a lot of politics going on within the US Catholic Bishops Conference that I think he will be expected to have a say in".
She also pointed to a "legacy of abuse [which] still haunts the church" while also saying she hopes Pope Leo will continue Francis's work to "advance the position and the leadership of women in the church".
"I don't know that he is one of the cardinals that I would've thought had that as a major priority, but he is a bridge builder and he is a listener, he's got a great missionary experience so fingers crossed."
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