A group of Concordia students taking part in a May seminar found themselves in Rome as the American pope, Leo XIV, was named. The group is pictured in St. Peter's Square. ROME — You could call it “Lucky 13.”

ROME - The election of the first US pope is a godsend to businesses in Rome, as big-spending pilgrims flocking to the Vatican are also expected to spend in the Eternal City.

As white smoke announced the election of a new pope last week, keepers at Rome zoo celebrated the hatching of a baby bird known colloquially as a 'Pope Vulture'.

According to Father White, Father Prevost’s thesis has a vision that could be extended beyond the Augustinian rule and the role of the order’s prior to be applied to the episcopacy, and even to the papacy.

Omaha native Blase Cupich is back in the States after attending the conclave in Rome last week. He's one of the 251 cardinals in the world. Sign up for our Newsletters Cupich spent six years working with Robert Prevost,

Still, it was an exciting moment for the Americans who were at the Vatican that day. Mariner says he and his wife were in a restaurant in Rome at the time, surrounded by dozens of U.S. citizens. When the new pope was announced, Mariner heard many of the patrons joyfully exclaim, “He’s an American!”

The papacy is a global platform, so the issues Pope Leo chooses to focus on can resonate far beyond the church.

According to the Opus Dei communications office in Rome, the May 14 encounter was 'a brief meeting in which the Pope expressed his closeness and affection.'