Long Islanders were among those who packed St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City when Pope Leo was elected the first American leader of the Catholic Church.

Catholic cardinals gather and sequester themselves in the Vatican for the start of a conclave to elect a new pope.

Pope Leo also celebrated Mother’s Day as jubilee bands and thousands of pilgrims created a festive atmosphere in St. Peter’s Square on Sunday.

An Omaha native now reports in the Holy See. She's been in Rome since 2016 and has had the opportunity to cover the recent conclave.

The new Pope, Leo XIV, should direct an urgent review of the Vatican’s 2018 agreement with the Chinese government that allows Beijing to appoint bishops for government-approved houses of worship.

Among the regular pilgrims, tourists and assorted onlookers were groups of nuns. There are around 600,000 Catholic nuns around the world, and they dedicate their lives to a variety of religious services, like charitable work, living in seclusion in monasteries and focusing on prayer.

The new pope said he would be guided by a key document that his predecessor wrote listing the church’s priorities, including a “loving care for the least and the rejected.”

Incoming Pope Leo XIV faces what some call the most-challenging environment for religion in China since Mao Tse-tung.