By Dr. Paul Fabrizio

The white smoke from the Vatican chimney carried a big surprise. After decades of it being assumed wisdom that the pope could not be an American, Chicago-born Robert Francis Prevost was elected by the Roman Catholic Church College of Cardinals to be the pope. Choosing the name Leo XIV, Prevost is the first American to be elected as the church’s Supreme Pontiff.

Within minutes of his appearance at the flag draped balcony, his story is being told around the world. He is an alumnus of Villanova University. He is 69 years old, meaning he could be pope for a long time. He lived in Peru for decades and then lived in Italy holding important positions in the Vatican. He was a friend of Pope Francis and was promoted by Francis to oversee the selection of bishops for dioceses around the world. Francis made him a Cardinal just two years ago. He is a member of the religious order of Augustinians, who follow the example of St. Augustine of Hippo, an early influential church theologian and author of such classic works as “City of God” and “Confessions.” Pope Leo XIV probably now supplants Martin Luther as the most famous figure from the Augustinian order.

And the new pope is a fan of the Chicago Cubs.

Over time, we will learn much more about this man. We will learn his favorite foods, his boyhood on Chicago’s south side, why he majored in mathematics in college, and what drove him to spend two decades in Peru and become a naturalized citizen there. We will learn of his administrative style, his theology, his worship practices, and his politics. We will learn more about his handling of sexual abuse cases both in Peru and in his Augustinian order. There is so much to learn.

His appearance today at St. Peter’s did show us a couple of things. First, his choice of name. Leo the XIII, the last pope to choose the name Leo, reigned from 1878 to 1903 is called the Pope of Labor. He turned the Catholic Church to a more concentrated focus on the rights of workers through his encyclical “Rerum Novarum.” He championed fair wages, labor unions, and what we would now call social justice. No pope has taken the name Leo in more than 120 years. This new pope, by choosing that name, must be sending a message of what he thinks is important.

Second, his choice of garments. When Pope Leo XIV appeared at the balcony of St. Peters, he wore the vestments of a new pope: the red cape over his shoulders, the white surplice, the ornate stole. Francis, when he first appeared in 2013 was simply dressed in the white cassock of a pope, his black pants visible under the thin material. Leo is telling us he is no Francis. He made have been a good friend of the previous pope, but this new pope has a more traditional liturgical style. How that will translate into decisions such as Latin rite mass and women serving at the altar as deacons will have to be seen.

Catholics believe that the Holy Spirit was active at the papal conclave, and for now, they see this new pope as an expression of the whispering of that Spirit. Time, of course, will tell. Decisions, speeches, gestures by Pope Leo XIV are still to come. But for now, the Church can proclaim “Habemus papem,” or “We have a pope!”

Dr. Paul Fabrizio is Professor of Political Science at McMurry University