Just days after cardinals elected a new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV delivered his first noon blessing at St Peter’s Square Sunday. In San Francisco on Sunday, Bay Area community members and parishioners gave their reaction to the pope’s first Sunday mass as they have been watching the new pontiff.

Americans are cheering for the new leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, whose name is Robert Francis Prevost.

Evangelical and other Protestant leaders have provided a range of reactions to the election of Pope Leo XIV, from some believing he is exactly what the world needs to others who fear he will be a "woke" pontiff.