US cardinal reveals Pope Leo XIV was distraught as conclave voted

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U.S. Cardinal Joseph Tobin described the moment inside the conclave when he saw ‘Bob’ realize he was going to be elected pope.

ROME, Italy — Speakers blasted songs including “Born in the U.S.A.” and “American Pie” as six cardinal electors from the United States gathered in Rome on Friday to share their thoughts on the election of the first U.S.-born pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost.

“I took a look at Bob and he had his head in his hands and I was praying for him,” said Cardinal Joseph Tobin of the moment right after casting his vote in the Sistine Chapel. “And then when he accepted, it was like it was made for him.”

One day after the Chicago-born Prevost became Pope Leo XIV, the cardinals met on a stage decorated with the Stars and Stripes and a Vatican flag at the Pontifical North American College. The hilltop institution for U.S. seminarians is a short walk from St. Peter’s Basilica, where Leo made his first speech to the world on Thursday evening as the new leader of the Catholic Church’s 1.4 billion global faithful.

The United States had 10 voting cardinals in the conclave, the second-highest number of any country. Four of them currently serve as archbishops in the U.S.: Tobin of Newark, New Jersey; Timothy Dolan of New York; Blase Cupich of Chicago; and Robert McElroy of Washington.

“In a very real sense, Cardinal Prevost has been in his life at his core a real missionary, in every way,” McElroy said.

Joining them were retired archbishops Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston in Texas, and Wilton Gregory of Washington, as well as French Cardinal Christophe Pierre, the apostolic nuncio to the United States.

Several of the men referred to the man they’ve known for years as Bob or Robert by his papal name, Leo. Others said that his American nationality wasn’t a factor — he also holds Peruvian citizenship.

Cardinals were most concerned with “who among us can bring us together, who among us can strengthen the faith and bring the faith to places where it has grown weak,” said Gregory.

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