Pacelli Catholic Schools celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV – Austin Daily Herald

By Jed Nelson

There are moments in history that are so important, so joyful or tragic that we remember exactly where we were or what we were doing when the news was broken to us. The moment the TV turned on or hearing the static of the radio will forever be ingrained in our memory.

For the students and staff at Pacelli Catholic Schools, the election of Pope Leo XIV was one of those moments, but certainly one they did not see coming.

“About a half hour before the white smoke I told students it was not going to happen,” Pacelli Social Studies teacher Nicholas McGrath said regarding the election of American Cardinal Robert Prevost.

“The reason being, the global community has somewhat wrongly accepted that having an American pope would concentrate too much power within the United States,” McGrath added. “With what I knew of the American Cardinals, I said ‘probably not’, and figured it would be somebody from Africa or Asia.”

But nonetheless, Chicago born Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was elected in the 2025 papal conclave as the successor to Pope Francis who passed away April 21 2025. Prevost is the first-ever American pope to be elected in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

“I thought it was really cool because I hadn’t witnessed it before,” Pacelli student Mallory Lamers said. “It was cool to experience the white smoke and him (Pope Leo XIV) coming out for the first time.”

For the staff at Pacelli, being able to experience the conclave — a true watershed moment— was what made the day so special.

“Seeing it with the students, for me, was the coolest thing,” McGrath said. “We got the white smoke between the third and fourth period — we were glued to TVs.”

After the fourth period, students and staff ditched the TVs in the classrooms and flocked to the auditorium where they watched the announcement of Pope Leo XIV on the big screen.

“It was convocation at this time and the whole school met for 20, 25 minutes and watched the livestream,” McGrath said. “The Cardinal comes out and announces the name Prevost — the whole room was electric.”

For a student like Lamers who did not know what a conclave was before attending Pacelli, it was quite a sight to see.

“Watching the whole process of the conclave and seeing everyone at the Vatican, I thought it was really cool. As soon as I saw the white smoke I wanted to call my grandma,” Lamers added.

During the conclave, students were given the opportunity to adopt one of the many Cardinals up for election and give campaign speeches on behalf of them to highlight why they should be the one elected. This allowed for students to become familiar with the different Cardinals and to broaden their sense of what the conclave process is like. McGrath also offered each student who gave a speech extra credit in one class of the student’s choosing. This was an opportunity that Pacelli senior Kirsten Koopal took advantage of, which led to her picking Prevost at the last minute.

“We had gotten an email from McGrath about giving speeches and I didn’t really think anything of it,” Koopal said.

Fearing for her physics grade at the time, Koopal ran to McGrath’s room 10 minutes before the speeches were due to figure out which Cardinals had not been picked by the other students.

“He showed me where to find the list of Cardinals and I saw the name “Robert” and I was like ‘I can say that,’” Koopal said. “So, I wrote a quick speech about him, then didn’t think anything of it again.”

It wasn’t until the students and staff settled into the auditorium that Koopal began to think about Prevost being elected.

“When we got white smoke, I said to myself ‘What if it’s him?’ I picked him randomly — there was just something in me.”

Sure enough, as the announcements were happening, it was becoming more and more clear who it was.

“As things were being said, I could just tell it was going to be him,” she added. “And then it was and I was seriously shook.”

But why Prevost? For some, the process of how a cardinal gets elected as pope can be foreign. Father Andrew Beerman, pastor of St. Augustine’s and St. Edward’s churches of Austin, said it’s more than just a popularity contest.

“A lot of the cardinals give talks beforehand to try and get to know them,” Beerman said. “They talk about what’s needed in the church, what’s most important.”

Beerman was another one who simply did not believe an American would be elected as pope.

“It’s always been the common thought that an American would not be elected as pope,” he said. “There’s America as a country, versus the church in America which are two different things. Foreign countries tend to lump it all together and have this picture of the country where everyone has the same views, but that’s just not the case.”

Beerman, who spent five years of his life living in Italy, was able to get a sense of how foreign countries pictured America.

“In some areas they love the United States and want to imitate them. Then there’s the view that the United States is not favorable in the sense to guide us in the church.”

Despite many of the differing viewpoints, there was still an allure to Prevost. Some described him as being “American, but not too American,” due to him spending most of his priesthood outside of the United States in Peru and Rome.

“He’s equipped with a number of valuable skills,” Beerman said. “He’s a gentle soul with a great intellect.”

Another favorable draw that led to the election of Prevost was that he spoke English. Father Beerman detailed how this is a growing value within the church.

“All the Cardinals from Asia and Africa probably don’t know Italian, but they would know English as a second language. So Prevost was able to speak with all of them.”

Time will tell as to what Pope Leo XIV will do in his time as the newly elected pope. But there’s a history that comes with the name “Leo.” This chosen name could very well be a look into what’s to come.

“We’ve had so many Leo’s throughout history that it brings a renewed interest to the last Leo, Leo XIII,” McGrath said. “We say the St. Michael the Archangel prayer every mass, and that was a prayer written by Pope Leo XIII.”

The last Pope Leo died in 1903. Throughout his papacy, he worked to bring Christian life to all people, especially the leaders of other countries. Also part of his agenda was to bring a union amongst all Christians due to the division within Christianity for the last five-hundred years.

“If Pope Leo XIV is choosing that name, then there probably is some indication that he looks up to Pope Leo XIII and wants to duplicate his goals,” Beerman added.

Because most people today have a phone in their pocket, news comes at them fast. With the world at their fingertips, any question they have can be answered. Anything they want to see, they can see with the click of a button. And on May 8, almost everyone who has access to a screen saw Robert Prevost, an American, elected as pope.

“Ever since Pope Leo XIV was elected there’s been a renewed interest in the Catholic faith,” Beerman said. “Someone cited that the Google search for ‘How do I become Catholic?’ has gone up 370 percent.”

Beerman stated how this is providing an openness to being Catholic, and that it’s not something to be ashamed of.

“Because of the modern age, I told one of my classes that everyone in the world knows what the pope looks like,” McGrath added. “The conclave itself shows the global nature of the church.”

With all the excitement surrounding Pope Leo XIV, both McGrath and Beerman see a need for a clear teaching of the Catholic faith.

“We have to be united if we’re going to move forward in bringing the message of the gospel to the world,” Beerman said. “The teaching of the faith has not been as clear in previous times.”

Because Pope Leo XIV has a Canon Law degree, that is a clear indication to Beerman that he is very particular in his thinking and teaching.

“It’s a joyful time in the church when there’s a new pope elected,” Beerman said. “It shows the continuity that Jesus has not left us without a shepherd to guide the church. Because I lived in Rome, seeing all the things that were shown on TV during the election, that I have been to and seen, it was very moving.”