The 267th person to hold the office of Pope is Robert Francis Prevost. His name will be Pope Leo XIV.
The name of a pope signifies “a certain spirit and direction and vision of the new pope,” according to Dennis Doyle, a theologian and professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of Dayton.
“The first thing you would search for would be which popes previously had that name,” he said. “That would indicate something about the pope’s desired course.”
“Peace be with you” was how Pope Leo XIV began his address as head of the Catholic Church.
He went on, saying: “Dearest brothers and sisters, this was the first greeting of the risen Christ, the good shepherd who died for God’s sheep. Like you, I hope that this message of peace will find its way into your hearts, reach your families, and reach everyone, wherever they may be. Peace be with you, everyone.
This is the disarming, modest, and preserving peace of the risen Christ. It is a gift from God. God, who has unconditional love for all of humanity. The voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome and the world that day on the morning of Easter, is one that we should never forget. He was weak but always courageous.
Pope Leo shares the stance of the late Pope Francis regarding the direction that the church should take. Like Francis, he is outspoken about the threat that climate change poses to humanity and longs to embrace the underprivileged and disenfranchised.
According to ABC, Leo spoke at a seminar in Rome about the environmental crisis while he was a cardinal.
Leo held the positions of prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America prior to his appointment as pope.
Leo was the first US pope and was born in Chicago.
“The United States is where I was born. However, all of my grandparents were immigrants—Spanish, French, etc. Both of my parents were very involved in the parish, so I grew up in a very Catholic home,” he said.
He is also a citizen of Peru.
The fact that Pope Leo has an academic degree shocked many. Furthermore, despite what many people might think, it is not one in theology.
Furthermore, Pope Leo’s degree has nothing to do with theology.
Actually, in 1977, Leo received his Bachelor of Science in Mathematics degree.
The fact that so many people were taken aback by this revelation is evidence of the deluge of comments regarding Pope Leo’s degree that flooded the Internet.
One user on X commented, “The Pope is a math major, so he not only believes that Jesus multiplied bread and fish, but he knows exactly how he did it,” according to the Daily Mail.
A third person commented, “The new Pope is from Chicago and has a math degree, which goes to show you can still make a success of your life even if you don’t pass the first-round interview at Jump.” Another person wrote, “Math major possible career paths: quant, programmer, grad student… pope.”
A fifth person merely remarked, “HE’S A MATH MAJOR???” and a fourth said, “I just learned that the new pope studied math at undergrad in case you’re wondering how tough the job market is for technical roles right now.”
Pope Leo issued a call for peace on Sunday from the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica balcony.