“Peace be with all of you!” Pope Leo XIV on the balcony of Saint Peter's / Photo by Independent Photo Agency Srl/Alamy
A Dispatch from Rome: SMC’s Tom Poundstone on the Culmination of a Conclave and the Selection of Pope Leo XIV
The Theology and Religious Studies professor joined tens of thousands in Saint Peter's Square to witness the selection of a new pope. He shares his experience, reflections, and hopes for the American-born Pope as “the man for the time.”
Tom Poundstone, a professor of Theology and Religious Studies at SMC, arrived in Rome a just before the beginning of the Papal Conclave. He joined tens of thousands in Saint Peter's Square to watch, and wait, and wait... But Poundstone—and the world—didn't have to wait long. On Thursday, May 8, after less than 48 hours, the new pope was selected. Poundstone shares his experience and reflections of the day below.
What a day! While I used the word “waiting” to describe my experience of the first day of the conclave—and we waited until after 9 p.m. for the first sight of black smoke—for the second day, the best single word might be “stunned.” I was stunned that a conclave without a clear front-runner reached the very high bar of two-thirds by the fourth ballot, then even more stunned that in such an incredibly short conclave, they selected not one of the most expected choices like Cardinal Tagle or Cardinal Parolin, but a Peruvian-American, Cardinal Robert Prevost. Oh, my!
I arrived in the square by 4 p.m., suspecting it would be another day of photographing black smoke some time after 7:30 p.m., but the smoke was emphatically white, extremely abundant, and it came much earlier than any of us anticipated: 6:08 p.m.
Of course, we all knew that the fourth ballot would be concluding just before 6 p.m., but unless there is a successful election, the ballots from that round would be saved and burned with the ballots from the fifth round of voting, and no one was predicting a successful election on the fourth ballot. Indeed, most of us were already making plans for being in the square on Friday and possibly even Sunday after the cardinals took a mandatory day off for prayer and reflection.
We were there early, just in case someone was elected in round four, but really, we were there to stake out a good spot for later in the evening. Also, just in case the fourth or fifth ballot was successful, we definitely wanted to be in the square. The idea of waiting to hear the bells proclaim a new pope wasn’t really an option. You might be able to run to the square, but with the crowds and the need for security checks, there might not be time to get in before the new pope was announced.
Where I was standing, we had a great view, not only of the chimney, but also of one of the large screens with a feed from Vatican News. Occasionally, the screen featured their “chimney cam.” Many in the crowd were taking delight in watching images of a baby seagull scamper along the tiled roof. As happened a few times in the previous hour, that brought about some cheers.
Then suddenly, totally unexpected, right behind the little seagull, it looked like smoke was coming out of the chimney. I quickly looked back and forth between the real chimney and the image on the screen. It took a while to confirm, let alone process. Could this be so? If there was smoke at this time, someone had been elected pope. Within moments, the crowd erupted in cheers. Less than two minutes later, the bells started to peal.
A New Era Dawning
If “stunned” is the first word I would use, the second would be “overwhelmed.” I might have imagined the roar of the crowd, but I hadn't anticipated the wave of emotions that would come with this moment. I tried recording a video clip, but on each of the first four times, I stopped because of tears. On the first take, I didn’t even get out a word before I had to stop. I was not anticipating that.
Eventually, hunched over the railing of a barricade, I recorded a few sentences, but I could still barely complete a thought. In my recording, I mumbled something about being both excited while also nervous about who might have been elected, but I doubt that captured the heart of the wave of emotions I was feeling. This wasn’t a time for dispassionate reporting. Still, we knew we were witnessing the dawn of a new era in the Catholic Church, but we didn’t know what that era would be or who would be the Church’s new leader. We wouldn’t start to know that for over an hour.
We can speak a lot about trusting the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but throughout the week I kept thinking of the amazingly candid response that then-Cardinal Ratzinger gave in 1997 to the question, “Is the Holy Spirit responsible for the election of a pope?” His reply might surprise you: “I would not say so, in the sense that the Holy Spirit picks out the Pope… I would say that the Spirit does not exactly take control of the affair, but rather, like a good educator, as it were, leaves us much space, much freedom, without entirely abandoning us. Thus the Spirit’s role should be understood in a much more elastic sense—not that he dictates the candidate for whom one must vote. Probably the only assurance he offers is that the thing cannot be totally ruined… There are too many contrary instances of popes the Holy Spirit obviously would not have picked!”
"A conclave this short must betray an amazing degree, not just of unanimity, but confidence in the candidate, his virtues, his skills, and the direction they hope he will take the church. The shorter the conclave, the greater their sense of confidence."
Still, as I pondered the stunning news that a pope was elected on the fourth ballot, it led to a sense of calm. An election after eight or nine ballots would represent a compromise between competing factions. A conclave this short must betray an amazing degree, not just of unanimity, but confidence in the candidate, his virtues, his skills, and the direction they hope he will take the church. The shorter the conclave, the greater their sense of confidence.
Furthermore, a victory in the fourth round would only come if the third ballot made it clear who would win. The cardinals must have gone into their lunch break knowing what would happen that afternoon. The cardinal about to be elected must have known that too, giving him time to collect his thoughts and even pen a few words that he might say from the balcony. That the new pope had a written text for his remarks proves that point. He certainly wouldn’t have had time to write a speech after he was elected.
But mostly I was imagining what must be happening in the Sistine Chapel, and I paused and prayed for whomever we would soon meet. In a matter of moments, he would go from relative obscurity to being one of the most well-known and most influential people in the world. Talk about being overwhelming!
Let me add that when the white smoke appeared and when the announcements came, fortuitously and fortunately, I had the great honor of standing next to Marianne Duddy-Burke, the executive director of Dignity USA. What a privilege to be able to talk with her in that hour of uncertainty and hope.
Man of the Hour
When the announcements came, there were, of course, the expected cheers, then the great silence as we waited to hear the name: “Prevost.” Really? It was hardly whom we expected if it was a short conclave, but all the more reason to think the cardinals must have been convinced that he was the man for the time.
For all the talk about the cardinals not knowing each other, just over 60 of the cardinals participated in the Synod on Synodality the last two years, Prevost being one of them. So, at least those 60 cardinals knew each other very well, and they would especially know what skills they had in listening. And though some of the cardinals might not have known each other, there were a few in the curia they would all know, with Prevost being one of them because of his role on the important Dicastery for the Selection of Bishops. They would not just know of him, but also know what skills and values he brings to the job. Their selection of him in such quick order is a ringing endorsement.
I don’t recall previous popes giving much of a talk after they were announced, but Pope Leo spoke for quite some time, especially since he speaks Italian so slowly and clearly, something I greatly appreciated as we were hanging on every word he said. Beyond a doubt, he wanted to stress many of the key themes of Pope Francis, such as peace and God’s unconditional love for everyone, with a special concern for those who are suffering. Picking up on Francis’ theme of a church that goes to the existential and geographical peripheries, Leo spoke of learning how to be a missionary church that has open arms for everyone. And picking up on the emphasis that Francis placed on synodality as a constitutive dimension of the church, Leo specially said, “We want to be a synodal church.”
That in turn means a commitment to Vatican II, a commitment to listening, and a commitment to the “sensus fidelium” (sense of the faithful). In particular, it creates a forum in which the Church can continue to ponder expanding the role of women in the ministry of the Church, let alone further explorations of our understanding of sexuality and gender that were dealt with so superficially in last year’s “Dignitas Infinita."
If you are searching to know more about our new pope, I found this to be quite insightful. While the entire interview is worth reading, a key quote comes at the beginning: “We are often worried about teaching doctrine, but we risk forgetting that our first duty is to communicate the beauty and joy of knowing Jesus.” Leo does not shy away from a Jesus-centric understanding of the Church’s message, something brought out in his sermon today in the Sistine Chapel. I might also note that he makes a point of proclaiming the resurrection.
Who knows what Pope Leo will ultimately be like as pope? The papacy transformed Francis. Who would believe that he was known as the cardinal who never smiles?
Scenes from Saint Peter’s Square
Photos by Tom Poundstone
