Well, this just happened.
While I am no longer a Catholic, I was one long enough to realize having an American Pope is indeed a very big deal. I could only imagine the nuns at Our Lady of Consolation freaking out had this happened some 40 years ago.
Furthermore, as a man without faith I did respect and admire Pope Francis for what he did. He was not perfect, no human is, but he was a reformer that moved the Church into the right direction (IMHO). It sounds as though Pope Leo XIV is also a reformer and should continue this trend.
Again, this may not affect me directly as an atheist, but the Catholic Church still does hold a fair amount of sway in the world, so I am happy to hear that the new pontiff is cut from the same cloth as Francis.
My 2¢.
© 2025 Michael A. Diaz