The announcement that an American cardinal had been elected Roman Catholic Church’s 267th pope had special meaning for a group of students at an international Catholic school in Rome.

The new Chicago-raised Pope Leo XIV faces an immediate challenge in his native country: taming the brawling U.S. tribe of Catholics, riven by political divisions that have thwarted the will of his predecessors.

When still a cardinal, the new pope led discussions on key issues facing the church during which “every voice had equal value,” whether an archbishop or an unordained believer.