“It was electric,” Nelson said, adding there was “uproar” in the room when Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost became the 267th pontiff. “It was so cool to see an American pope.”
Like other members of the Catholic ministry, he is hopeful that Pope Leo XIV will help bring a revival for Catholicism in America.
“I feel that there’s a resurgence of Catholicism today,” said Nelson, who was religiously unaffiliated until last year when he converted to Catholicism. “You see people who are passionate about their faith. There’s a new wave coming, and we’re going to have more converts like me, who are coming from the 'nones.’”