on the first American pope, Leo the 14th, now the spiritual leader of the world's 1. 4 billion Catholics. He celebrated his first mass as Pope this morning.
Let's go to Terry Moran in Vatican City. Good morning, Terry. Good morning.
George Pope Leo is a Chicago and as we heard in your interview with his brother, he grew up in a close-knit family in Dalton, Illinois, just across the line from Chicago's Southside. And the quips and the memes have already begun. There are some who are hoping that Pope Leo's first act might be the canonization of the 1985 Chicago Bears.
But really, what his family and his hometown gave him was the foundation of his faith and his commitment to serve. This morning, Pope Leo I 14th is making history, giving his first homaly this morning, partly in English. And I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me.
At the relatively young age of 69, he is the first ever American pope. Now the holy father to 1. 4 billion Catholics across the globe.
Born Robert Francis Pos just outside Chicago, he attended high school at St. Augustine Seminary in Holland, Michigan. His classmate Jim Priestley remembers him as devout and whips smart.
He's extremely bright and he's he's very well organized and u he's a very very nice guy. After attending college at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he studied math, he was ordained a priest in 1982 and then he earned a doctorate in canon law in Rome. For two decades, he worked in Peru as a missionary, a teacher, a parish priest, and finally a bishop.
Overall, Pope Leo is seen as a centrist who will continue key parts of Pope Francis's legacy, but moderate others. He is progressive on social issues like the plight of migrants and the poor. He opposes ordaining women as deacons and he's less liberal on LGBTQ issues than his predecessor.
His family says there's no one better for this job. His brother John speaking to George earlier this morning. The most interesting thing is I think from the time he was five or six years old, he knew this was his fate.
Not that he would be a pope, that he would be a priest. In listening to all three POS brothers, you do get a sense of how much love was in that family and of what kind of people his mom and dad were. Michael.
All right, Terry. Thanks for that.
