Less than 24 hours after taking his last final in seminary, Deacon Cole McDowell rushed through the city of Rome to St. Peter’s Square just in time to hear the words “Habemus papam” proclaimed on the afternoon of May 8.
Deacon McDowell bought a round-trip flight to Rome in hopes of seeing the new pope before his priestly ordination on May 31. Scheduled to arrive in Rome in the afternoon on the second day of the conclave, he prayed he would make it before the announcement, he said in an interview on April 29.
After 12 hours of flying, a layover in Lisbon and two train rides, Deacon McDowell — and his luggage — joined Italians who “were rushing the streets” to try and make it to the square after white smoke was seen rising above the Sistine Chapel, he said in a interview via email May 10.
“Children were crying out ‘Habemus papam!’ before we even knew who it was,” he said. “The energy in the square was electric. … I couldn’t believe I was standing in St. Peter’s Square for the appearance of the first American pope.”
At home in the Archdiocese of Louisville, Catholics gathered around TVs a little after noon when white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel announcing the election of Pope Leo XIV. Church bells rang out the news and school children cheered.
Earlier that morning, Sacred Heart Model School’s second- and third-grade students heard from Dr. Michael Bratcher, former principal and school parent, who Zoomed with them live from where he stood in St. Peter’s Square awaiting the conclave’s results.
The students had the opportunity to ask Bratcher questions about his experience earlier that day, when black smoke announced failed morning ballots.
The livestream of the chimney played in the background as the students continued their schoolwork. But when the white smoke appeared a few hours later, “everything stopped,” said Stephanie Higleford, a second-grade teacher at Sacred Heart Model.
In anticipation of the announcement of the newly elected Holy Father, St. Albert the Great School students, staff and faculty gathered in St. Albert Church to watch a livestream of the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. Across town, Archdiocese of Louisville employees gathered around TVs and monitors to await the Holy Father’s introduction.
Back in Rome, the roaring sea of Catholics who had gathered in St. Peter’s Square hushed as the doors of the balcony opened to introduce Pope Leo XIV, said Bratcher in an interview via email on May 11.
“The pope’s presence was humbling,” he said. And his first words, “La pace sia con tutti voi,” which translates, “Peace be with you,” resonated with him, Bratcher said.
In response to Pope Leo’s greeting on the balcony, cheers erupted in Catholic school classrooms across the archdiocese. Photos and videos, including one video of Assumption High School students waving Vatican and American flags in their classroom, spread across the archdiocese.
“Being able to see the fascination in the process through my students’ eyes was an experience that I will never forget,” said Hilgeford, the second-grade teacher from Sacred Heart Model School. “We got to meet Pope Leo together.”
Bratcher said he is returning to Louisville after his “once-in-a-lifetime experience” with hopes that Pope Leo’s election “marks a new chapter in the Catholic Church’s journey, one filled with promise and potential.”
