ROME – American cardinals who participated in the conclave that elected history’s first-ever pope from the United States, Chicago native Robert Prevost, hailed him as a “citizen of the world,” saying his nationality was secondary, but he had the qualities they were looking for.

Speaking to journalists during a May 9 press conference a the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Cardinal Robert McElroy of Washington said they had all heard Prevost speak during the pre-conclave general congregation meetings, and were impressed by his personality.

“I think what was important was not the substance of what he said, but the manner with which he said it, and that’s key when we’re looking at this question: What is the manner that the man is going to bring to this office?” McElroy said.

Cardinal Wilton Gregory, archbishop emeritus of Washington, said Prevost did not get up and give an “overwhelmingly convincing speech that just wowed the body” of cardinals, but “he engaged quite effectively in the smaller group conversations.”

It was the small talk during coffee breaks and mealtimes that were more important, he said, saying he and the now-Pope Leo XIV as two Chicago natives spoke about their city and traded stories.

McElroy said that as cardinals entered the Sistine Chapel, with Michelangelo’s famed Last Judgment in front of them, it brought “to the fore the whole of humanity, you that know with its joy and accomplishment and all of its hardship and struggle and failure.”

However, “All sense of those divisions within the world fell away,” he said, saying, “I felt we were looking at that moment into the souls of one another to find who should carry on this incredibly important mission at this moment in time.”

“I really think in the discernment that went on and in the prayer that went on, we were looking for the soul who has the capacity at this moment to be a really beautiful witness to Christ,” he said.

American Cardinals Daniel DiNardo, Timothy Dolan, Joseph Tobin, Blase Cupich, Wilton Gregory, Robert McElroy and French Cardinal Christoph Pierre, the Vatican’s nuncio to the United States, spoke during a press conference on the May 8 the election of Prevost as Pope Leo XIV.

Prevost, a member of the Order of Saint Augustin, called the Augustinians, though born in Chicago spent some 30 years as a missionary in Peru, including a stint as Bishop of Chiclayo, before being brought to Rome by Pope Francis in 2023 to lead the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops.

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“As someone who is very American in habits, tastes and attitudes, I always thought it would be impossible to have an American pope in my lifetime,” McElroy said.

However, he said he was surprised that “the impact of him being an American was almost negligible in the deliberations of the of the conclave.”

McElroy said he spoke to many cardinals from the so-called periphery countries that Pope Francis had appointed, and “What surprised me was the real absence of that being the key question in all of this.”

Similarly, asked how Prevost’s election and his American nationality would influence engagement with the US government under President Donald Trump, Gregory said, “I didn’t sense in the conversations that I had with the other cardinals of the world that the conclave was seen as a continuation of the American political election.”

“Obviously, the cardinals were quite aware of things that have occurred in the United States, statements that have been made, political actions that have been taken,” he said, but insisted that this was not the main issue on the cardinals’ minds.

Rather, based on his conversations, Gregory said what the cardinals were mainly concerned about “was who among us can bring us together? Who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak?” he said.

Gregory said the desire was to find someone capable of bringing the faith “to places where there seems to be less enthusiasm or appreciation of the common things that draw us together.”

“So it wasn’t an election conclave, it was a desire to strengthen the Christian faith among God’s people,” he said.

Tobin in his remarks to journalists described the conclave experience as “more than a meeting,” but a stark experience of being cut off from the world and placing themselves in God’s hands.

“We were not simply counting on the forces that were in that room, we were remembering that it was the Holy Spirit that brings the Church together, and makes unity possible,” he said.

Tobin, who has known Prevost for 30 years, said that after voting in one of the ballot sessions, was walking back to his seat inside the Sistine Chapel and “I took a look at Bob, because his name had been floating around, and he had his head in his hands.”

“I was praying for him, because I couldn’t imagine what happens to a human being when you’re facing something like that,” he said, but said when Prevost accepted his election as pope, “it was like he was made for it, all of whatever anguish was resolved by the feeling that … God had made something clear.”

Despite being an American, Prevost is also a naturalized Peruvian citizen, with DiNardo hailing him as “a citizen of the entire world” since he has spent so much of his life and ministry in South America, and more recently in the Vatican.

“Yes, he is American, but he represents the big, big picture of the Catholic Church,” DiNardo said.

Similarly, Dolan said the fact that Prevost was born in the United States is “a source of pride” for the cardinals, but he also pointed to the new pope’s missionary experience in Peru.

Prevost “so fell in love with the people” that he became one of them, he said, and also hailed the newly elected Pope Leo as “a citizen of the world,” saying his broad global experience is “a reminder that we all have our citizenship in heaven. Where he comes from is now a thing of the past.”

Cupich in his comments noted how rapidly the cardinals came to a decision, despite the fact that they were over 130 and they all came from different languages, cultures and backgrounds, yet in 24 hours united in making one of the biggest decisions of their lives.

“I hope that’s a sign to the world that we can reach across our differences, languages, culture, nationality, and work together to solve the problems that are there, that we will have the opportunity to work for peace,” he said.

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