Cayman’s Catholics on Thursday joined the faithful around the world to welcome the first American pope — the 267th occupant of the throne of St. Peter.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, originally from Chicago, was announced as the new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide from a balcony overlooking a packed St. Peter’s Square at 12:15pm Cayman time.
He will take the name Leo XIV — the 14th pontiff to bear the name.
O’Neil Miller, the director of religious education for Cayman’s St. Ignatius Catholic Church, noted that Pope Leo first spoke to the public in three different languages, but he didn’t speak in English.
“Over and over, he talked about building bridges. People will look at where someone’s from but the Catholic church is very universal. It’s not where you are from. You are a child of God,” Miller said.
Miller highlighted that Pope Leo, successor to Pope Francis, who died last month, had spent much of his career in Peru.
He said, “Yes, he was born in America, which is something to be excited about, but we are looking to him for spiritual leadership — he is American, but Catholic first, which is important to us.”
Miller added, “I have been getting phone calls from parishioners — I think with what’s going on in the world right now and how America has been portrayed right now, people are on edge every time something happens.
“I wouldn’t look at the church being left or right or whatever. We want the pope to be a leader.
“People were looking for someone that would be a voice of peace in this world.”
There were about 9,280 Catholics recorded in Cayman in 2023, 14.1% of the population.
News of Pope Leo’s election came on the second day of deliberations by the 133-strong College of Cardinals, who were sequestered in the Sistine Chapel for their deliberations.
The new pope worked as a missionary in South America and later became a bishop in Peru. He holds dual US/Peruvian nationality.
He was made a Cardinal by the late Pope Francis and headed the Vatican-based Dicastery for Bishops, responsible for appointing bishops around the world.
He is, as Pope Francis, a member of a religious order; Pope Francis was a Jesuit and Pope Leo an Augustinian.
