VATICAN CITY — "You must be very happy that an American was elected," said a smiling Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican secretary of state, as he walked with an associate along the Via della Conciliazione toward to the Vatican. 

Out for a stroll Sunday afternoon under warm spring sunshine, the Italian cardinal, who was an initial front-runner during the conclave, told the Register of his hope that the Church will be "at peace" as it was "at the time of the apostles, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit."

His sentiments echoed a palpable sense of hope, optimism, and peace that seems to have pervaded the Eternal City since Pope Leo’s election last Thursday evening, even if it is tinged with caution among some of the faithful. 

Cardinal Walter Kasper, the president emeritus of the Dicastery for Promoting Christian Unity, out for some fresh air near the Tiber, said he similarly saw Leo XIV as a man of peace as well as someone who listens. 

The cardinal, who at 92 did not vote in the conclave, believes Leo — who is being seen as a conciliatory figure after the deep divisions of the past 12 years — is "not too far to the left or to the right" and that he "wants continuity with Pope Francis." Both attributes, he told the Register, are "very important."

Cardinal Kasper's successor as head of the Vatican’s ecumenical dicastery, Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, welcomed Leo as a "man of dialogue," telling the Register in an exchange next to St. Peter’s Square that he believed the new Pope would "bring harmony" to the Church. He also praised the friendly atmosphere during the conclave.

Cardinal Louis Raphaël Sako, patriarch of Baghdad of the Chaldeans, revealed he was sitting next to Cardinal Robert Prevost during the vote in the Sistine Chapel. He told the Register he had asked Pope Leo to speak out on behalf of persecuted Christians in the Middle East. 

And while warmly welcoming the new Pope, some cardinals, priests and laity have also privately expressed caution. After the tumultuous years of Pope Francis’ pontificate, and with Pope Leo XIV obtaining considerable support from progressive-leaning as well as conservative cardinals, a cautious "wait and see" attitude is apparent.

"I am very hopeful," said Father Rok Pogačnik, a traditional Slovenian priest. "What he has done up until now seems all quite good. Hopefully he will bring much needed peace to the Church. I like how he is not trying to take center stage, and it seems like he really believes."

Voting Patterns

Now that the dust is beginning to settle, what transpired during the conclave is beginning to become clear, based on conversations with a number of sources.

Cardinal Parolin was believed to be a leading contender in early voting, especially among Pope Francis’ strongest supporters, possibly attracting 40-50 votes, but he was unable to obtain broader support. Votes for other leading candidates, such as Cardinals Luis Antonio Tagle, Matteo Zuppi, Mario Grech, Pablo Virgilio David, and Jean-Marc Aveline, were also divided, especially among the Italians, Asians and Africans, so none was able to garner momentum.

Hopes that those backed by the Community of Sant’Egidio — Cardinals José Tolentino de Mendonça and Zuppi — were also dashed due to lack of support, but votes for "conservative" candidates were also split between Cardinals Péter Erdő, Robert Sarah, Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Malcolm Ranjith. Votes began to coalesce around Cardinal Ranjith but there were not enough of them.

Once all these candidates were effectively eliminated, the stage was then set for Cardinal Prevost to emerge. Already considered a possible compromise candidate by many cardinals going into the conclave, he began picking up votes in the third vote, including among conservative voters, helped in part by Cardinal Timothy Dolan lending his weight to Cardinal Prevost’s candidacy. By the fourth ballot, Cardinal Prevost had secured more than 100 votes, well above the two-thirds majority of 89 required to be elected.

This was achieved without any pre-conclave lobbying on Cardinal Prevost’s part. Contrary to Italian media reports, the Register can confirm that Cardinal Raymond Burke never received the future Pope in his apartment during the period of the general congregations, nor any other pressure to vote for him. 

Widespread Appeal

Overall, cardinals who were Francis’ closest supporters are pleased with the result, and so too are those who were critics of the previous pontificate, even if Cardinal Prevost was never their first choice. They all tend to see Pope Leo XIV as bringing a necessary period of calm and peace to the papacy after the divisions of the Francis pontificate, and in lignt of issues  raised during the 12 general congregations that preceded the conclave. 

Other sources echoed Cardinal Koch’s sentiment that those meetings were held in a collegial and helpful atmosphere. They also said the discussions were "very frank," with both praise and criticism of the past pontificate given plenty of airing, in contrast to the carefully controlled and prosaic press releases issued by the Holy See Press Office in the days prior to the conclave.

One particular area discussed concerned loose adherence to Church law during the past 12 years, and Pope Leo XIV, who has a doctorate in canon law, is expected to address this concern. He may also examine liturgical laws and Vatican oversight of those regulations. It is not certain if, at this stage, Pope Francis’ suppression of the traditional Latin Mass will be included in any canonical reset, but it is very probable that representations will be made to Pope Leo sometime in the near future regarding those restrictions.

These developments, coupled with Pope Leo XIV’s pledge to listen, build bridges and dialogue, have instilled considerable hope and confidence in Rome and beyond. 

“He has started well,” Archbishop Georg Gänswein, Pope Benedict’s former personal secretary, told Corriere della Sera on Monday. “Now a new phase begins. I sense a certain widespread relief. The season of arbitrariness is over.”

The current apostolic nuncio in Lithuania added: “We can begin to count on a papacy capable of guaranteeing stability and relying on existing structures, without overturning or disrupting them.”

(Source: Edward Pentin, National Catholic Register)