Nigeria, May 9 -- For over two thousand years, the papacy has been shaped by the bloodlines of Europe, an uninterrupted stream of spiritual authority flowing from Rome, passing through German, Polish, and Argentine hands. But today, the tide of history has turned. For the first time ever, the Roman Catholic Church has elected an American pope.

Never in the two-thousand-year history of the Roman Catholic Church has an American ascended the throne of Saint Peter, until now. In an event that stunned Vatican watchers and electrified faithful across the globe, Cardinal Robert Prevost, a quiet reformer with roots in Chicago and spiritual fingerprints across Latin America, has emerged from the Sistine Chapel as Pope Leo XIV.

The name Leo carri...