Reaction is coming in from around the world after the history-making election of Pope Leo XIV.

The pope, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost of the United States, is the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

RELATED: Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, overcame a taboo against a US pontiff

Early Thursday afternoon, Archbishop Bernard Hebda of the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, issued the following statement on the selection of Prevost:

“With Catholics around the world, I give thanks for the election of Pope Leo XIV as successor of Saint Peter. We continue to be blessed by the Lord’s assurances that he will be with his Church always. I am grateful that pope Leo XIV has said “yes” to this unparalleled call to lead, and I trust that the Holy Spirit will help him to use his unique gifts and experience to serve the Church of Rome and the Universal Church. I promise him my prayers, and the prayers of this local Church as he prepares to begin his Petrine ministry.”

Archbishop Bernard Hebda

Hebda also announced he will hold a Mass for Pope Leo XIV at the Cathedral in St. Paul on Thursday, which is scheduled to begin at 5:15 p.m.

There was a moment of joy and jubilation among University of St. Thomas Seminary students with the election of Pope Leo XIV.

“It’s thrilling,” exclaimed Brennan Crow, a seminary student at the University of St. Thomas. “It’s a little bit sooner than we expected, but we’re ready nonetheless to have a new pope.”

High above, white smoke billowed from the seminary roof. Down below, chest bumps, cheers, and an American flag waving.

Logan Halma is among a group of seminary students who met Pope Leo during a trip to Rome last fall for an evening meal.

“Yeah, it’s crazy, never thought it would happen,” Halma says. “I think that he’s very intelligent, has a really good sense of the church and what influences are going into that.”

There was even a cross-campus celebratory procession with one student portraying the new pontiff, using golf carts to get around.

“I think it’s important to have somebody that big representing all the Christianity of all the world,” says Miguel San Jose, a University of St. Thomas freshman. “It’s one giant group.”

These students weren’t the only ones excited.

“I never thought I would see an American pope. How exciting is that?” Archbishop Bernard Hebda told reporters.

The archbishop says he never met the new pope personally, but had exchanged letters with him.

The selection, a surprise, he says, because of America’s physical distance from Rome, but also because of what he called “political matters.”

“How is it that the holy father is able to deal with President Trump, for example, whoever our American president would be? Those ties are too close or too distant,” the archbishop noted.

The archbishop called Pope Leo XIV a moral voice for this world.

“I think I would just like to see a continuation of acceptable [sic] and love for everyone,” said Eleanor Undem, a University of St. Thomas freshman. “I think that’s the biggest thing that’s going to keep us together as a country and a world — more love.”

The University of St. Thomas also announced all are welcome to attend an outdoor Mass at noon on Friday on the school’s St. Paul campus. This Mass will be presided by Father Chris Collins on the John P. Monahan Plaza.

Rhonda Miska, with Church of St. Timothy-Blaine, watched Pope Leo XIV’s first prayer with a group at the Archdiocese offices in Saint Paul. The pope was selected just as they were about the begin the meeting.

She interpreted his prayer, which was said in Italian and Spanish, for those gathered.

“He talks several times about building bridges, peace,” she explained. “I think there’s an invitation to us to think about those words and how we live those values and at a time of polarization and division.

The new pope reminded Miska of Pope Francis.

“His greeting and his blessing from the balcony and his words of peace, I think, already are a gift to all of us,” she said. “Within the coming months, we’ll hear his preaching, we’ll hear his teaching.”

Miska was part of a group that traveled to Rome in October 2023 during the Synod of Synodality to encourage church leadership to allow women to become deacons.

“We have been several times,” said Jane Cavanaugh, who was with her during that trip.

Cavanaugh shared a photo from February that shows members of their Discerning Deacons group gathered around then-Cardinal Robert Prevost.

She’s encouraged by what she heard about their meeting.

“The fact that he’s a listener, that’s he’s open to this,” said Cavanaugh. “I’m hopeful we at least keep the dialogue open.”

While the Chicago native will chart the path of the Catholic Church, his influence is much larger.

“The pope is always a worldwide leader; he sets the moral tone,” said Charles Reid, a University of St. Thomas law professor and expert on the Catholic Church. “I think we’ll see him play a role diplomatically, try to bring peace. I mean, there are many troubled spots around the world.”

He expects Pope Leo XIV to follow in Pope Francis’ footsteps on immigration, the economy and the environment.

“We have a worldwide church and being a worldwide church, we have vastly different concerns in different parts of the world,” he said. “The most important things he can accomplish is to keep everybody together.”