The Rev. Francisco Bracamontes exulted at the news Thursday from outside his church in Sacramento’s Southside Park.
Cardinals at the Vatican selected a new pontiff, Pope Leo XIV. Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, is from Chicago , the first American leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and Bracamontes couldn’t hide his shock.
“It’s, ‘wow,’ it’s very surprising,” said Bracamontes, parochial administrator at Our Lady of Guadalupe Church on T Street between 7th and 8th, the giant mural of the Virgin Mary on the wall behind serving as a backdrop. “I’m just surprised. Papa!” he said, throwing his hands in the air…