Calgarians have mixed feelings about an American-born citizen being elected to lead the Roman Catholic Church.
“I find it odd. It seems like some sort of power move on the American side,” said Haya Mhareb, a non-Catholic who’s been following the election closely.
For the first time in 2,000 years, the Roman Catholic Church elected a North American-born cardinal into the papacy on May 8, 2025.
Robert Francis Prevost chose to be called Pope Leo XIV.
His election comes at a time of tension between Canada and the United States, driven by talks of annexation and rising tariffs on goods.
Mhareb fears that Trump will use the presence of an American in the papacy to assert American dominance.
“It sometimes seems odd for one big country to have hands in everything and then continue to stretch out,” said Mhareb.
She said that she hopes the new pope doesn’t become a mouthpiece for the Trump administration.
Some Calgarians view the Pope as having a low influence on world politics.
“If he were Canadian, maybe it would have more value because of nationalism,” said Seth Ferguson, a non-Catholic Calgarian.
“Because he’s not, it has very little impact especially if you’re not a Catholic,” said Ferguson.
Megan Calapardo grew up in an evangelical home but is now a practicing Catholic.
Calapardo came to Canada from the Philippines nine years ago and feels people misunderstand the new pope because they judge him solely on being American.
“He doesn’t seem evil,” said Calapardo.
“A lot of people just have these backwards beliefs,” said Calapardo. “You can’t speak about what’s happening because you have no interest in how [the church] runs. You have no interest in being a part of it.”
Jaxyn Flunder moved from Red Deer to Calgary to join the Seeds of the World, an organization dedicated to spreading the word of God.
Flunder was happy to see Pope Leo XIV in Rome.
“He’s experienced poverty. He’s experienced America. He’s experienced the poorest of the poor.”
Flunder feels the church will bring more people in North America into the faith.
The previous Popes mostly came from Europe. Pope Francis, who led the church from 2013 to 2025, was from Argentina and was the first Pope from the Americas.
“Now, this could really change the way he can reach out to people. With our last Pope, and the part of the world where he was from, I feel like he was very misunderstood. A lot of times I hear people say they don’t understand European culture,” said Flunder.
Rita Zak, a 72-year-old who rekindled her faith after experiencing what she calls a divine intervention, felt amazed at news of the 267th Pope.
“It’s really sweet because (he’s) American (and has) western culture. He’ll probably have a very deep understanding of it,” said Zak.
