STATESBORO, Ga. (WTOC) - History was made this week as the Catholic Church elected its first American Pope. People around the country are sharing their excitement to have some sort of connection to the Pontiff.

Whether it is his love for baseball, Chicago roots or Villanova University, experts say to be able to humanize such a renowned and powerful leader is very important.

“You feel kind of a relationship with the leader of your church. There is a sort of immediacy to that to make you feel like he is not really all that remote you might be able to have a conversation with him,” Dr. Kathleen Comerford explained.

Georgia Southern University history professor, Dr. Comerford says the Romans may take some issue with deep dish pizza but Pope Leo may be able to connect with the congregation in the U.S. more than ever before.

She says the history is not just in the selection of a pope from the United States but also in the cardinals who voted for him.

“There was a time when all of the cardinals were Europeans so it was unthinkable to have a Non-European pope,” Dr. Comerford said. “Now only 39% of the cardinals are European. It is much more likely to have a non European pope as a result of that.”

She says we’re still in the early stages of his leadership so it’s hard to tell what his agenda will be, but she believes we might get a hint from the name he chose, Pope Leo XIV after Pope Leo XIII.

“He is the one who convened Vatican one Pope Leo the XIV has already spoken about something called synodality which was really important to Pope Francis,” said Dr. Comerford. “It’s about consultation, it’s not about ruling in an extremely hierarchical manor. I make the decisions on the — he wants a lot of consultation. The calling of Vatican one is a consultation issue.”

She says while he is the first pope to be born in the United States, he spent most of his career in Peru and she believes his time there will have a great impact on his leadership.

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