Whoops, waves, tears: Faithful react to Pope Leo's first Sunday blessing in St. Peter's Square

VATICAN CITY — Tens of thousands of faithful Catholics gathered in St. Peter's Square to watch Pope Leo XIV deliver the first Sunday blessing of his pontificate exactly at noon.

They unfurled flags from around the world, waved back as the first U.S. pope waved from the loggia, and whooped, hugged and wiped away tears as he shared a greeting for Mother's Day.

The crowd started pouring into the Vatican hours before the marching bands arrived and the pope walked through the dark red drapes of the balcony in the middle of the facade of St. Peter's Basilica to deliver his prayer.

Here are some of their reactions.

A whoop and a watercolor

U.S. college student Wesley Buonerba was supposed to fly home for Mother's Day after spending the year studying in Rome. But he changed his plans to be in the square for the papal blessing — and let out a loud whoop when Leo said, in Italian, ''Happy holiday to all moms!''

''I can't help being joyful and feeling very blessed,'' he said. His curly hair held back by a Stars and Stripes bandanna, the architecture major sketched a watercolor of the pope while thousands around him held high their smartphones.

Habits, red roses and red-and-white flags

Three Peruvian nuns wore red roses on their brown habits for Mother's Day, and unfurled a big red-and-white flag.

''Today also we're invited to pray incessantly for the service that the pope brings to the whole of humanity,'' said Alicia Tasayco, superior general of the Canonesas de la Cruz religious order in Lima, whose name means Canonesses of the Cross. She was visiting two of her nuns in Rome when Leo, who served for decades in Peru, was elected.

Tasayco added that having seen then-Bishop Robert Prevost ''always concerned about the neediest,'' she felt his papacy would continue in that line, including helping women to have a bigger voice in the church.

Sister Rosalba Hernández, from Guadalajara, Mexico, waved a Mexican flag for ''the pope of the whole world.'' She said Leo's experience with religious orders — he is an Augustinian — should help him continue to give women religious more of a voice in the church.

''He knows and understands our life,'' she said.

‘The pope will do much for us'

Valentina Román Calle, aged 5, in the red and white shirt of the Peruvian national soccer team, sat on her father's shoulders. The family have lived in Italy for four years and came to the square to get Leo's blessing because Valentina's older sister, 10, needs to undergo an operation.

''The pope will do much for us,'' the girls' mother, Elizabeth Calle, said. ''We feel like we can really identify.''

Other migrants in the square also said they felt that Leo understands their plight and will advocate for them, as Pope Francis also did.

The faithful cheered as Leo called for an end to war and urged young people not to be afraid, echoing one of the trademark speeches by St. John Paul II.

''We ask too much of him,'' Peruvian tourist Kathy Fernández said jokingly. She said she had been praying that Leo would protect her family, inspire her 6-year-old son to grow in the Catholic faith, help people find work so they can live honestly, and promote world peace.

The calm pope

As he walked through the 17th-century semicircular colonnade that appears to embrace St Peter's square — and that Leo referenced in his first speech Thursday — the Rev. Michael Masteller of Los Angeles said he was still processing all the emotions of watching the first Sunday blessing.

But most of all, the Catholic priest said he felt peaceful because of Leo's own quiet leadership.

''He has this calmness,'' Masteller said. ''I've been feeling that, and that gives me confidence.''

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