By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
LAKE CHARLES –– Surprised. Overjoyed. Excited. Thrilled. These are just a few words that come to mind for Catholics in the Diocese of Lake Charles when they learned that United States native Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was chosen as the 267th pope to lead the universal Church.
By Catholic News Agency
VATICAN CITY — Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
White smoke rose from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel at 6:09 p.m. Rome time on Thursday, May 8, 2025, signaling that the College of Cardinals had chosen a successor to Pope Francis, who died on April 21.
Read more: Cardinal Prevost Elected 267th Pope; Takes Name Leo XIV
By Reverend Andrew DeRouen
Diocese of Lake Charles
From atop the haphazard stack of sketches on my studio desk, a few of us architecture students – Catholic or otherwise curious – monitored the ongoing papal conclave while completing our projects. We marveled at the fact that from over 5,000 miles away, this emerging technology on YouTube called “livestreaming” could make such a historical event so freely accessible.
It was 2013, and I was a 20-year-old college kid without even a proximate thought of the priesthood on my mind. Little did I know that the appearance of white smoke would so sharply define the imminent era, much less, that by the next time it happened, I would have twice met the very man elected and, after his passing, concelebrated a memorial Mass for him with my brother priests.
By Pamela Seal
Diocese of Lake Charles
LAKE CHARLES — Deacon Hunter LaRocca still remembers when Pope Francis was elected to the papacy on March 13, 2013.
“I was a junior in high school, and I was getting confirmed that year,” he recalled, pointing out that later this year he will be ordained to the priesthood under a new pontiff because of the death of the Holy Father on April 21, 2025.
April 21, 2025
With true sadness we have learned of the death of the Sovereign Pontiff, Pope Francis. The passing away of a Vicar of Christ is always an occasion of sorrow for the Church. We are united in prayer with those who mourn the loss of our Holy Father. At the same time, we trust, as did he, in the mercy of God and in the promise of Eternal Life given by our Lord Jesus Christ. The true Shepherd has never ceased in leading the flock to green pastures, and He will shepherd us still. May Pope Francis rest in peace.
