When Pope Leo XIV stepped to the Vatican balcony to give his first Sunday address to the faithful, his first words were “Never again war.”

There was a gleeful roar from the hundred thousand people gathered at St. Peter’s to hear from the man who just days before had been known to his fellow American cardinals simply as Bob — Bob from Chicago.

Is Pope Leo, the first pope from the United States, who from humble beginnings now will lead the 2,000-year-old Roman Catholic Church, going to be a figure of great change for the church, and for religion in America?

That’s our Question of the Week for readers.

Was Bob — rather, Leo XIV — chosen at least partly because he is American? Or did that plain fact have little to do with his selection?

It was said in the past that it was unlikely there would be an American pope because our country already has so much secular power in the world — economically, militarily, culturally. Is it of any symbolic importance that an American pope was chosen here in 2025? Or did Robert Francis Prevost, 69, just seem like the right man for the job?

Did the fact that Cardinal Prevost had spent 20 years of his career in Peru, and in fact was a bishop of Peru, influence his selection? He’s a dual citizen of our country and Peru, making him the second Latin American in a row to serve as pontiff. Did his fluency in Spanish help his candidacy?

He’s also entirely fluent in Italian, and was a top aide to the late Pope Francis in the Vatican, so he’s no stranger to Roman ways, either. Was that influential to the world’s cardinals as they voted?

Genealogical research embarked upon after his selection shows that the pope’s grandparents in New Orleans were mixed-race Creole people of both Hispanic and African ancestry. How will that affect how Leo ministers to his large flock, and how he is perceived?

Will having an American pope change Catholicism in America? How will it affect religion here in general? Were you excited when you heard that Cardinal Bob was suddenly Pope Leo?

Email your thoughts to opinion@scng.com. Please include your full name and city or community of residence. Provide a daytime phone number (it will not be published).