Villanova students react to alum Robert Prevost being named Pope Leo XIV, meeting him in Rome

VILLANOVA — Church bells rang nonstop on the campus of Villanova University on Thursday afternoon, as one of their own became one of the most famous figures in the world.

“LEO THE FOURTEEEEEEENTH,” one student shouted, drawing cheers from others, as students at Villanova celebrated the naming of a new pope — and recalled a close encounter with him just a few months ago.

“I just got out of a final, and a few of my classmates and I were talking about, ‘How do we think we did,’ and then we check our phones and: the new pope is from Villanova! Very, very quick change there, and we were overcome with emotion,” said Nova sophomore Amos Colocho.

“We actually went to Rome, and he was serving one of the masses we attended,” he said. “Being in his presence then, and thinking about it retroactively now, is just incredible.”

Villanova students spent about 11 days in Rome in October, and part of that course involved a visit to St. Peter’s Crypt, where about 40 students in theology, history and  business classes were able to meet then-Cardinal Robert Prevost up close.

“When he was serving Communion with everybody, him giving me the blessing, and thinking about that blessing now, since he’s been elected pope — it’s something I can’t stop thinking about,” Colocho said.

“We have a group chat, and it’s just been going crazy,” he said.

Originally from Connecticut, Colocho said his phone had been going crazy less than two hours after the new pope had been named, with texts and messages from family and friends who recognized the name.

“Since he his a Villanova alum, I see him coming back to campus. I’m not sure when it would be — maybe if he speaks at commencement, that would be insane,” Colocho said.

“Earlier today, when I was walking back to my dorm, I saw people hugging each other, and just celebrating that the new pope is from here,” he said.

Will the news change his future? Perhaps — but his mechanics and materials engineering exam score from this morning may matter more.

“We were all downplaying  how hard it was going to be, and it ended up being harder than we though,” Colocho said. “But she’s definitely going to grade lightly today. Those dorms, maybe he lived there. Bradley Cooper went here, Jill Biden went here, maybe he lived somewhere here too.”

Jaisy Joseph, assistant professor of theology and religious studies, and student Mike Blake were both in a watch party at a community room with about 50 fellow staff and students when the white smoke appeared

“I got the video,” Joseph said, showing a clip of her colleagues celebrating, as Blake reenacted his reaction: “And I had my hands up, like this — I thought, ‘There’s only one cardinal with the first name of Robert.”

Joseph said her phone had been full of messages from family and friends since the announcement, including an Instagram photo of the entire class with the then-cardinal last fall.

“Can you tell Villanova’s proud? I was comforted by the fact that I think he will continue Pope Francis’s legacy of synodality — what that means is, deep listening, communal discernment, really entering more firmly into this era of being a global church,” Joseph said.

“He is deeply formed by the Augustinian charism: what that means is, it is about community, and friendship, and moving toward truth together,” she said. “In an era of polarization, where it’s always us and then, maybe the beauty of this charism of community and friendship is that there’s no way that I can know truth without you, that we need to do this together.

“There’s a palpable sense of pride, of joy, of awe, the bells are ringing. Definitely celebration, for sure.”

Joseph added that she’s originally from Dallas, but now an Eagles fan after three years at Nova, and will be teaching a class for undergrads about the legacy of Pope Francis in spring 2026, and now she’ll have to rewrite her curriculum.

“I’ll weave in the ways in which Pope Leo XIV will be continuing aspects of Francis. We’ll be constantly discerning, the continuities and discontinuities, and what’s new, on the horizon,” she said.

Senior Mike Blake said he was supposed to be writing a paper for Joseph’s theology class on the ethics of life and death, and the history of embalming and natural burials from ancient Egypt to today — until the news of the new pope shocked the campus.

“We had planned on doing a watch party after we saw white smoke, so we went to the community room and waited, and when we heard ‘Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost,’ we all lost our minds. And we’re still losing our minds,” said Blake. “Just an honor to have an alumni as the vicar of Christ and the successor of Peter.

“A humble man, and a gentle shepherd. We’ve had the privilege of meeting him before, and he’s a pope that’s not going to be afraid to speak out about social injustice, or root out injustice wherever we see it, particularly in places where people are taken advantage of. But on the other hand, I think he has a gentle hand, and we’ll see that Pope Francis approach of reaching out to the margins, and those who feel harmed or excluded,” he said.  “A very humble man, and I think he’ll make a great pope.”