By Miramon Nuevo
It had been years since Peter Pat last set foot in a church. However, while in Rome, when the new Pope, an American, was announced, he says he felt a pull to return to his Catholic faith. He found inspiration in Pope Leo XIV to reconnect with his Catholicism, a faith he had regrettably drifted away from while dealing with life’s obligations.
On May 18, the diocese offered a Mass of Thanksgiving for the Election of Pope Leo XIV at St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church in Yucaipa. That day, as he sat in the pew, Pat said he felt a deep sense of thankfulness for his renewed faith.
“I want to be Catholic again. This time, a good one,” he said. “I believe having an American pope is God’s way of inviting not just me but all of us here in the United States to return to God. To deepen our relationship with Him. To turn over a new leaf.
“For a considerable period, I have kept God at arm’s length. I was running from God. The chase ends here. This running around ends now,” Pat, who works as a hauler-shipper, tearfully declared.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is the first U.S.-born pope in history. He was elected on May 8, 2025, following Pope Francis’ death. He was born in Chicago. His election to the papacy, literally, stunned the world.
“Some thought the cardinals would elect the first Asian pope. Some thought the cardinals would actually elect an Italian pope, which they had done so far for so many centuries. But no, they voted for an American…the first American pope!” Father Santos Ortega, pastor of the Yucaipa parish, shared, his voice filled with excitement.
“There is no doubt that he will make a good pope. He has seen the true world. His charism is to be with those who are suffering, the marginalized; like his predecessor, he has compassion for the poor and the outcast,” Fr. Ortega added.
Bishop Alberto Rojas told the congregation of his close encounters with Prevost back in Chicago.
“He is a man of great humility. He has great compassion and love for the less fortunate. And that’s how I believe Pope Leo is going to lead us. He will bring us exactly to the very heart of the Gospel which is love!”
In his homily, he stressed that achieving this kind of love requires us to open our hearts to the Lord.
“We have to allow the Lord to be present in us, to enter you, so we can love as he loves. This can only happen when our hearts are open to welcome the Lord inside. The world will know us by the way we love each other. Love is our brand,” Bishop Rojas underscored.
Bishop Emeritus Gerald Barnes, Auxiliary Bishop Emeritus Rutilio del Riego, Monsignor Gerard Lopez, Vicar General, Father Romy Seleccion, MS, and Fr. Otega concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Rojas.
Francesca Paturzo, a catechumen at St. Martin De Porres Church and a Chapman University law student, visited St. Frances Xavier Cabrini Church for the first time that Sunday, accompanying her boyfriend’s family.
“As an American and as a Catechumen, as I embrace the faith, I look to the church and the Pope to be a guidepost that can draw hard lines on wrong or right under the eyes of God and can be the strongest advocate for Christian morals,” she opined.
“I would like to see Pope Leo XIV balance the delicate line of upholding Church teachings and traditions with promoting a movement towards neighborly and friendly relations with non-Catholics,” she continued. “I feel and have experienced the most effective evangelizing through empathy, compassion, and openness to finding common ground. I believe that there is a way to promote the Catholic faith without discord and that such peacefulness is a strength, never a weakness, just as Christ acted.
“One issue that I think Pope Leo XIV should take a strong stance on, particularly as an American Pope, is the treatment of migrants under the current administration, and the gross weaponization of faith to justify such indignant treatment of our fellow humans,” she added.
Maria Quispe, Lupe Mamani, and Yessenia Huaman once met Pope Leo XIV as teenagers in Peru, where he ministered as a bishop. They were in Yucaipa for the Mass while visiting Lupe’s sister, Rosa, who recently had twins. Maria Quispe and Yessenia Huaman are both public school teachers, while Lupe Mamani is a social worker assisting out-of-school youth.
“I still remember him as ‘Father Bob’,” recalls Quispe. “He is one of us. He is Peruvian. His heart is Peruvian. He is the most approachable bishop who walked with us in times of pain, crisis and brought us hope.”
“His leadership style is based on listening, on simplicity and fidelity to the gospel,” Mamani reminisced. “He has a big heart for those who are despairing. He knows the sufferings of the poor because he has lived with them. He ate with them. And, in many times, also went hungry with them.”
Unlike her friends, Huaman refers to Pope Leo XIV as “El Guerrero,” meaning “the warrior.”
“To most people, he is a role model of charity, compassion and selflessness. We called him ‘Bishop Rob’ in Chiclayo. As a bishop, his journey wasn’t easy. He was criticized and humiliated, but that didn’t deter him. He continued caring for the sick, poor and the disadvantaged. In the process, he challenged stereotypes, broke boundaries and taught all of us the true essence of charity,” Huaman explained.
Pope Leo XIV served as Archbishop of Chiclayo, Peru, from 2014 to 2023. He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.
In the meantime, Father Peter Casiño and Father Leon San Clemente, two Augustinian priests from the Philippines who are visiting Augustinian communities in Los Angeles, Ojai, and San Diego, shared their experiences with Pope Leo XIV with the BYTE.
“As Father Prevost, he was our Prior General in the Augustinian Order,” recounted Fr. Casiño. “He is very peaceful and quiet. He is the kind of person who does not call attention to himself. His main focus is always fostering harmony. He would always tell us that peace can be achieved through selflessness and charity in unity with the truths of the gospel.”
Fr. Casiño and Pope Leo XIV (then Fr. Robert Prevost) first lived together in Durban, South Africa for two years in 2001. They reconnected in 2008 in the Philippines, where Fr. Prevost, as Prior General, blessed an Augustinian seminary in Manila. Their most recent meeting occurred in Manila in 2010 during a global Augustinian leadership gathering.
“What a timely gift it is to the world to have a Pope whose main ethos is peace and harmony, at a time when the world is wrestling with chaos and facing so much unrest,” Fr. Casiño mused.
Fr. San Clemente is honored to share a past with the Pope, having been his classmate at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
“We were classmates at the Angelicum when we both did the Licentiate in Canon Law in 1987,” Fr. San Clemente fondly recalled. “He was quiet but very approachable. He was always smiling. He was intelligent but never boastful.”
“In a world dimmed by confusion and so much fallacies, we need a Shepherd who is faithful to the deposit of faith, bold in charity, humble in authority, and radiant in holiness. We need a Shepherd after Christ’s heart, who will lead the Church with clarity, courage and fidelity. We need someone who will fear no power on earth, a Shepherd who will lay down his life for the sheep. That’s Pope Leo XIV,” Fr. San Clemente assured.
Miramon Nuevo is a freelance writer and a parishioner of Our Lady of Lourdes, Montclair.