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May 10, 2025My Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Habemus Papam! We have a new Pope!
It was with great joy that I learned of the white smoke billowing out of the chimney in Vatican City and it is with great joy that we can now celebrate together what it heralded: not only a new Sovereign Pontiff but our first Pope from the United States, from the American midwest and the south side of Chicago, Illinois!
The papacy now feels closer to home than perhaps ever before. Who could have predicted that Fr. Erickson and I would be theorizing whether our Holy Father prefers the Cubs or the White Sox! What a gift to our Church and to our country.
The timing of the announcement in Rome allowed us to gather in the church as a Nativity School community Thursday afternoon for our annual Crowning of Mary rosary and ceremony with a fresh intention: to pray for our newly elected Pope Leo XIV and for his pontificate.
Please join me, Fr. Erickson, and the entire universal Church as we continue to pray for him during this most extraordinary time of transition, and that he may continue to follow the prompting of the Holy Spirit in his life and in his service to Holy Mother Church.
In Christ, Our Resurrected Lord,
Fr. Rolf Tollefson
Pastor of Nativity of Our Lord