Catholics across Wyoming celebrated the appointment of the first American pope Thursday, many saying they believed the selection of Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago-born cardinal, will bring greater attention to U.S. churches and potentially lure back lapsed members.
Former Wyoming Gov. Mike Sullivan, a member of the church, was fishing the North Platte River as part of the Two Fly Fishing Tournament near Casper when he heard a new pontiff had been named — and that he was an American.
“I’m tickled to death,” he said. “I can’t wait to get home and read about it.”
Prevost was chosen as the 267th pope by the College of Cardinals after several rounds of voting that took more than a day.
Prevost served for two decades in Peru, where he became a bishop and a naturalized citizen. His selection came as a surprise to many inside and outside the church, who believed the United States’ already outsized global influence might disqualify an American from holding the most influential position within the church of 1.4 billion people including an estimated 69,500 people in Wyoming.
As The Rev. Rob Spaulding, the pastor of St. Paul’s Newman Center, a Catholic college student ministry at the University of Wyoming, walked to mass Thursday, a student passed him on campus and yelled, “All right father, first American pope!”
“I hope this is a time of joy for the people of Wyoming, and particularly the students of UW,” Spaulding said, noting his own personal excitement at the fact that Pope Leo was an alum of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where both Spaulding and the new pope received master’s degrees in divinity, albeit 27 years apart.
Hope He’s Conservative
At the Cathedral of St. Mary in Cheyenne, Bernie Ballard can be found at the church worshiping every day. On Thursday, he said he was praying for the new pope.
“Hopefully, they all made the right decision and felt the Holy Spirit,” he said about the College of Cardinals.
Ballard also is excited for the first American pope, and said he was surprised by the election.
“Never in a thousand years would I think an American cardinal would become the pope,” he said. “I think if you’re Catholic, you’ve been praying for the Holy Spirit to guide the cardinals into making the right decision. You just have to keep on believing they were.”
While he liked and supported the previous pope, Ballard also expressed hope that “this one will be more conservative.”
Students and teachers at St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School in Casper sit in the school commons watching a livestream from the Vatican of the selection of a new pope. (St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School) 
Students and teachers at St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School in Casper sit in the school commons watching a livestream from the Vatican of the selection of a new pope. (St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School)
Leo The 14th
Shouts of “Leo” erupted in the commons of St. Anthony Tri-Parish Catholic School in Casper on Thursday, where nearly 100 students sat at round tables or plopped down on the linoleum floor to watch live feeds from the Vatican.
The school had assembled the student body into the commons to catch the historic event, beaming it on a wall from a projector and a large flat screen TV.
School officials had been keeping an eye on broadcasts all morning, and a school nurse was the first to notify administrators that white smoke was flowing out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signaling a decision had been made.
Principal Melissa Whelan immediately got on the intercom and summoned the entire school to the watch party.
As students waited to hear the news, they prayed for the new pope and sang the same song the cardinals had sung when they entered the conclave on Wednesday.
The announcement of the selection over the livestream was made in Latin. Fortunately, they teach Latin at St. Anthony’s.
“Our Latin teacher was able to quickly say it’s Leo the 14th,” Whelan said. When teachers and students heard the new pontiff’s name, they knew he was a countryman.
“It’s fantastic for us that he’s from America,” she said. “It’s really exciting for the students to say, not only have you witnessed a new pope but you witnessed history today with this being the first pope from America.
“You’re going to remember this for the rest of your life that you were here and what grade you were in.”
Whelan said the school plans to have a schoolwide party Friday to celebrate the appointment.
In Cheyenne, Genevieve Mougey, executive director of Catholic Charities of Wyoming in Cheyenne, said she and her friends were on a group chat for much of the day, discussing the exciting news.
“There’s something special and something very unique about the fact that this is our first U.S. pope,” she said.
Mougey said the selection comes at an appropriate time, less than a month after Easter.
“The Easter season continues for the next 50 days after Easter, which takes us into Pentecost,” Mougey said. “So it’s just a really profound time for us to celebrate together as Christians, but then also as Catholics.”
Contact Justin George at justin@cowboystatedaily.com
Justin George can be reached at justin@cowboystatedaily.com.
