By Katie Vasquez
Deacon Paulo Salazar finished up a long day of classes on May 8 and debated whether he should come to St. Peter’s Square. He said something in his soul told him he needed to visit despite being exhausted. It’s a moment he believes he will hold on to forever.
Deacon Salazar returned to St. Peter’s Square on May 9, already trying to relive history.
The seminarian from the Diocese of Brooklyn had eight hours of classes at the Pontifical North American College on Thursday. He headed out with 10 other men in formation to St Peter’s Square, 10 minutes before the white smoke started.
“It was a tremendous event, a very historical moment for me, a very emotional moment as a Catholic to witness,” said Deacon Salazar.
When he heard the name of the new Holy Father, he couldn’t contain his joy.
“I think I grabbed one of my friends and like, ‘Prevost, American.’ It’s American, and then hearing Pope Leo XIV, it was just a very, a very graceful moment,” he said.
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Deacon Salazar said there were lots of prayers before they got their first look at the new pontiff, a man who they could already feel a connection to.
“I think, for us, there’s an even greater fervor of just sort of sharing that American blood that that, you know, that runs through our bodies. And it was just a beautiful moment to experience that, and especially with that being an American pope.”
This wasn’t the first time the St. Joan of Arc parishioner met the American pope. Then-Cardinal Robert Prevost celebrated mass at the seminary on Thanksgiving day.
“I think we sent him home with a couple slices of pumpkin pie. He may have liked it a lot,” said Deacon Salazar. “I got a chance to meet him before he was even Pope Leo XIV. And, it just speaks to just his personality of just a really prayerful man. A very humble man. Really charitable man. And I’m just very much looking forward to how he is and how will reign as a Roman pontiff.”
Deacon Salazar hasn’t stopped his prayers for the Holy Father.
“I went to go to the tomb of Saint Peter to pray for the Holy Father, asking Peter to intercede for him and to give him that strength that he had, to lead the flock,” said Deacon Salazar.
Deacon Salazar is eager to see how Pope Leo XIV leads the church as the seminarian spends the next month in Rome. The deacon will be ordained in the Diocese of Brooklyn in June and plans to follow the direction of the new pontiff as he becomes a priest.