The first American pope has just been elected. In the second day of the conclave, Thursday, May 8, Robert Francis Prevost has been elected the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name “Pope Leo XIV.” Not only is Pope Leo the first American pontiff and a Chicago native, but he is also a Peruvian citizen, who lived in Peru for many years, giving him Latin American roots similar to his predecessor, Pope Francis.

Prior to this news, in a special episode of “What’s the Buzz,” with SAU Weekly, we asked University Chaplain Father Dale Mallory for more insight about the passing of Pope Francis and what kind of impact that will make here at SAU.

Insights on Pope Francis’ Impact from University Chaplain Father Dale Mallory

Before looking at the changes that are to come with his passing, Father Mallory took the time to celebrate Pope Francis’ life and talk about the progressive impacts he made on the Catholic Church.

“When we think of what the Pope’s role is, the Pope is really the face of the Catholic Church for the whole world,” he says. “Some of his biggest impacts were his global understandings of the church. The word ‘catholic’ means universal, it’s the universal church.

“I think his concern for trying to make sure that all parts of the Catholic Church are involved and have a voice and feel acknowledged was probably one of his biggest impacts. He had a chance to make a whole bunch of new cardinals, and one thing I personally appreciate is that he picked cardinals from locations of the world that haven’t traditionally had them.

“These could be non-catholic countries, or places like Africa or Asia. So, he’s trying to have those segments of the church have more of a role and more of a voice.

“Amongst, obviously, his care and concern for the poor and for the immigrants around the world. I mean there’s a whole laundry list of things he was impactful for, but I’d say definitely those.”

Father Mallory tells us more about how the Pope’s Argentinian origin left a legacy on the Catholic Church.

“I think it has definitely helped more with this idea of being a universal church,” he says. “A lot of the previous Popes have been Italian, obviously. Rome is in Italy, so that would make sense! But, I think it encourages the church to see that there is leadership available from all over the world. 

“Pope Francis himself in choosing his cardinals during his reign, he picked cardinals from very diverse places that maybe had not previously had cardinals and had that kind of role within the church’s leadership. To me, that’s what his biggest impact is. Trying to expand the diversity of the leadership in the church.”

How the Passing of a Pope Impacts the Catholic Church

So, what exactly happens to the diocese around the world when the Pope dies?

“The biggest thing is when it comes to the operations of the church, the operations of what we call the ‘Curia,’ which is kind of like the senate or congress of the church,” Father Mallory says. “Once the Pope dies, those operations mostly shut down temporarily.

“Catholics might be familiar with the canonization process of blessed Carlos Acudis. He’s an up and coming saint. Fingers crossed! His canonization was supposed to happen a few days ago, but with the Pope passing away that couldn’t happen. So, some of these kinds of things in the church are temporarily on hold until we have a new pontiff.”

How the Pope’s Passing Effects the Diocese here at SAU

Father Mallory tells us how this will affect our diocese in Davenport.

“On the local level, the diocese will still operate as normal under their bishops,” he says. “But obviously we are in a period of mourning for Pope Francis. 

“If you go to the chapel here at St. Ambrose, you’ll see we have a display up with a picture of Pope Francis, a space for students and faculty to leave condolences, their prayers, flowers, whatever they’d like to do.

“For now, we are in that period of mourning and waiting. The church is still going on. Everything is still happening normally, just waiting to see what will happen. 

While students and staff have to wait to see who the next Pope will be, Father Mallory was able to tell us how they will be picked.

“The conclave is basically an election that is held to select a new Pope,” he says. “180 cardinals will be brought together into the cysteine chapel on May 7th. From there they will have a time to discuss with each other who they think would make a good pope. They can nominate candidates. 

“A candidate can be any baptized Catholic male over the age of 18. So, if you’re out there, could be you! But, usually it’s somebody who is already himself a cardinal or a bishop. They’ll make these nominations, they’ll have debates about worthiness, and then when they feel ready they will have elections. They’ll have votes.

“In order to win, a candidate needs to have a two-thirds majority. If there isn’t a two-thirds majority, they just start from scratch and nominate again, vota again, and it just keeps going and going and going until finally someone gets two-thirds majority. That’s a very condensed version of how that works.

“I’m very excited and interested to see what happens!”

How Pope Francis Got the Conversation Started for Women Leadership in the Vatican

While Pope Francis was very progressive for some areas, such as helping the poor, not everyone thinks he was doing enough to be progressive in other areas. One of these areas heavily talked about is not allowing women to become priests in the Catholic Church.

Searching for answers, the Buzz talked to Dr. Ella Johnson, a theology professor here at SAU.

“Some people might say they are frustrated about him not changing rules allowing women to be ordained,” she says. “However, if we only focus on the rules of ordination, we miss all of the other things he did to promote women’s leadership in the church.”

Dr. Johnson lists a few of the many actions taken by Pope Francis to expand women leadership in the Vatican.

“Synod on Synodality was a three year process of listening and process about the church. It was interesting in that in the first time in history Pope Francis had appointed lay people, including about 50 women as voting members. That makes sense, because if it is a discussion on the church, you should be listening to 50% of its members, who are women. The results of those votes became official church doctrine.

“He appointed the first woman to lead a major Vatican office. He also chose a woman to be the president of the Vatican City State. 

“Pope Francis expanded the amount of women theologians who serve on the International Theological Commission, which is a body of the church that advises the bishops on doctrines. In 2014 he named five women, which is very significant.

“In 2016, on Holy Thursday, where they reenact the last supper, he changed the liturgical rule to allow women to have their feet washed alongside men.

“Pope Francis began a commission for the study of women deacons, which opened up a place to dialogue about the possibility of women being able to be ordained as permanent deacons.

“Almost 25% of positions in the Vatican are now held by women. A lot of these positions are very high profile. He did do quite a bit, and I just hope the next Pope continues in his footsteps.”

Click here to read more about how SAU is remembering Pope Francis.