Manila, May 9 -- At least two Catholic Church officials in the Philippines on Friday hailed the election of Pope Leo XIV, with one of them calling him an "answered prayer."

"Let us look beyond races and nationalities. Let us rise above labels of liberals and conservatives. He is our Pope. We owe him our obedience as we would obey Christ," Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas said on social media.

"Let us unite. We have a Pope. Let not the Pope frighten us. He is a grace of hope. He is our answered prayer."

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, becomes the 267th leader of the Roman Catholic Church and the first US-born pontiff on Friday (PH time) following a two-day conclave by the College of Cardinals at the ...