How he chooses to bring his own legal acumen to bear on each of these three situations will say a great deal about the early direction of his pontificate.

Supporters of Pope Leo XIV gathered Saturday, not in a cathedral or a church, but a baseball stadium the pope once frequented years as Robert Francis Prevost.

The Archdiocese of Chicago celebrated the election of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV on Saturday at Rate Field. The newly installed pope addressed those in attendance via an eight-minute video, in which he urged Catholics to be a “light of hope” and to work towards making the world a better place.

In his first words directed specifically to Americans, Pope Leo XIV told young people on Saturday how to find hope and meaning in their lives through God and in service to others.

Thousands of the faithful are celebrating Pope Leo XIV in a uniquely Chicago way Saturday with an event and mass at Rate Field.

As Pope Leo XIV settles into his papacy, the three million U.S. Black Catholics contemplate its deeper meaning, as questions linger about his ethnic heritage. Get daily updates on

Speaking to pilgrims at the end of a special Jubilee audience June 14, the pope expressed deep concern over the “seriously deteriorating” situation in the Middle East, warning of the consequences of further escalation. “I want to strongly renew an appeal to responsibility and reason,” he said.

"What does the pope think about us being related? That's my question," one cousin said. "What does he think of us because we're Afro American?" She plans to write a letter inviting Leo to her home if he ever visits New Orleans.