White smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on Thursday afternoon, indicating the cardinals had elected a successor to Pope Francis.

The Catholic Theological Union of Chicago is beaming with pride as their alumnus, Pope Leo XIV, prepares for his official inauguration, with messages of well wishes and prayers from the Augustinian Order and the university's community.

Cardinal Blase Cupich got off the plane from Rome in Chicago Monday night, but there is not time to rest just yet.

At private dinners and at formal gatherings of cardinals, talk among church leaders of who will next lead the church has certainly already begun.

The pop star was photographed on May 8 in attendance at the conclave election of Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, which is a photo that has now gone viral.

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The sanctuary is run by the religious of the Order of St. Augustine and “houses an ancient image of the Virgin, dear to the order and to the memory of Leo XIII.”

Pope Leo XIV committed to strengthening ties between the Catholic Church and Jews in a message to the Chief Rabbi of Rome, Riccardo Di Segni, following his election at the conclave last week, the Italian capital's Jewish community said in a statement on Tuesday.