WILLOUGHBY HILLS, Ohio — St. Mary Seminary graduates feel it's an honor to receive their degrees on the same day a new Pope was selected.
Pope Leo XIV, also known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost of Chicago, was selected by a two-thirds majority vote on the second day of the papal conclave to serve as the next Pope of the Roman Catholic Church.
He is the first American to ever lead the Roman Catholic Church.
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Northeast Ohioans are ecstatic that Pope Leo XIV has been chosen.
St. Mary Seminary President-Rector Father Andy Turner said it allows the Catholic community to continue down a path of kindness and unity.
"We're thinking about the future of the Catholic Church with the election of Pope Leo XIV. It really provides us an opportunity to reflect upon where we are going," Turner said. "We're so grateful to Pope Francis and his years of service to our global church and his care for the poor, a reminder of the need to live simply, to care for one another, to care for those who are most in need, and that's really my prayer for Pope Leo."
On Thursday night, 31 St. Mary Seminary graduates accepted a total of 34 degrees ranging from Ministry and Divinity to Theology and Diaconal Ministry.
"I'm graduating with a Master's of Arts in Theology and a Masters of Divinity," Deacon Kyle Rosser told me ahead of his graduation. "I'm so excited. It's been five years of graduate school, so this feels like a long time coming."
Rosser said Thursday feels like one of the best days of his life, as his graduation falls on the same day Pope Leo XIV was elected.
"It's the end of my time in seminary. It's my end of this time of study, and it's a new beginning for the church with the new Holy Father. We're so excited and hopeful for what is to come," he said.
Rosser explained how unique it is to have an American lead the church, but said he's more excited about the experience Pope Leo XIV brings to the table.
"Because of kind of the great experience that he brings: growing up in Chicago, kind of experiencing inner city life, being a bishop and missionary in Peru and serving the poor, serving the most vulnerable, and then serving at the leadership level of our church in the Vatican," Rosser added. "We're just wishing the best for Pope Leo. He's in our prayers and we're so excited for what the Lord has in store for him."
For Turner, watching graduates like Rosser stirs up happiness as he hopes they will follow the path of Pope Leo XIV.
"Who knows? Maybe one of the graduates might one day be a bishop, might one day be a cardinal, and quite possibly, you never know, might one day be the pope," Turner said. "I think that's the hope of any president of a school is that the graduates are following that pathway of hope, that pathway of love, pathway of service."
The men and women graduating from St. Mary Seminary will now serve in churches, schools, hospitals, nursing homes, and other areas of service, according to Turner.
"It's such a gift, really a lot of gratitude tonight to see the women and men that are here that have given years of their time and their study, really for service of this area," Turner said.
Thursday's graduation was held at St. Noel Church in Willoughby Hills.
