Pope Leo XIV: Bay Area locals with ties to Chicago, Peru react to new pope

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- There's a lot of excitement among local Catholics on Thursday in the Bay Area, an excitement shared around the world following the announcement of the new Pope, Leo XIV.

Especially excited locally were those who share a similar background with the new pope.

The first American-born pope, he is from Chicago.

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"My first reaction as a native Chicagoan was 'what?' And then I thought, 'Oh my God,' and I started to cry and that's because, as a Catholic since 1959 and been told this would never, ever happen," said Bob Rucker, who now lives in Half Moon Bay, "This is one of the greatest moments in history, in my lifetime."

Though Pope Leo is a Chicago native, he's also a naturalized Peruvian citizen after living in Peru for years as a missionary and later an archbishop.

Bay Area Peruvians at Redwood City Peruvian Restaurant Estampas Peruanas were buzzing with excitement over the new pope.

"I'm very emotional, I mean, it's very emotional for me to know that the new pope is part of our country, Peru," said Guillermo Altuna.

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Each of the locals say they have high hopes and expectations for what their new pope can bring.

"I hope he can help more (around) the world (with) the immigrants and LGBTQ+ people," said Rosa Los Santos.

"I want to see a continuation of Francis and many of the social justice efforts which were wonderful around the world," Rucker said.

When asked about how the new pope might embrace some of the most pressing social issues impacting society and the church, San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantu said Thursday that a good indicator could be in the name Pope Leo XIV took.

"It harkens back to Leo XIV, and sort of resurrecting this idea that the church needs to speak to social issues," Cantu said. "Specifically, what social issues will he speak to? Well, that remains to be seen."

While Bay Area locals wait to see what this era will bring, right now, the sole emotion is excitement.

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On Thursday, we heard from churchgoers at the Cathedral of St. Mary of Assumption and asked them what they thought about having a pope who was born in the United States.

"It was shocking to me," said Father Michael Liliedahl with St. Stephen Church.

"My gosh, we have an American pope," said Liliedahl. "I hope he is able to bring the gifts of the United States into the Vatican."

On Thursday, we heard from churchgoers at the Cathedral of St. Mary of Assumption and asked them what they thought about having a pope who was born in the United States.

"I'm glad to find out he is under the wing of the last Pope Francis whom I like very much," said David Tse.

"He's from different places. So, he's well diversified, his mind, his soul will be serving the Christian faith," said Samson Asrat.

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With a new pope comes new hope. Church officials say this new pope is a centrist with progressive views on social issues.

Donal Godfrey is the chaplain at University of San Francisco, and also a Jesuit priest.

"I think he will continue the path of Pope Francis. In terms of reaching out," said Godfrey. "The people who are marginalized in the world need a voice. I hope and I believe Pope Leo can be that, not just for Catholics but beyond the Catholic Church."

ABC7 also heard from several Catholic school students. They're seniors at Sacred Heart Prep.

"It's kind of interesting that America has that power with the cardinals with all that currently, especially what's been going on with our government," said David Wilson, a 12th grader.

Senior Sam Meraw has family from the Chicago area.

"We're all very excited about it. We've all be chatting about it on our group chat," said Meraw.

She has high hopes for the new pope.

"I'm hoping he'll follow in Pope Francis footsteps, especially after Pope Francis wrote the Laudato Si' document about 10 years ago. That brought a lot of hope for us to the environment. I hope he'll be able to continue that legacy," said Meraw.