Excitement sparks at Overland Park Catholic school as the new Pope is announced

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. (KCTV) - Catholics worldwide are celebrating the announcement of the new Pope, even at Holy Spirit Catholic Church here in the metro.

Father Justin Hamilton wanted to bring a sense of Rome to Overland Park, stocking up on black and white fireworks, he and other members of the church traveled to rural Missouri to find.

“It is a time of joy as we prepare for this great event, so we thought, what can we do to bring awareness to them in the situation. And so if we could mimic the smoke at the Vatican, it would be an opportunity to get them excited,” Father Justin explained.

It’s an idea Father said came about as a joke at first on Wednesday, but quickly turned into a reality that all members were looking forward to.

“Fireworks and crawling on roofs is fun. I think most of the time, at least when I was growing up, you don’t think of a priest doing that,” he said. “You think ‘oh he just prays all day and reads the news and goes to bed’. But, there’s a lot more in it, so that’s kind of an added benefit.”

He explained he wanted to show the students that the Catholic Church goes beyond their parish. It’s a community and family found in any corner of the world.

“We aren’t isolated from the rest of the body of Christ. Sometimes, you get to your church, you get into your community, and you think this is just all there is’ Father Justin said. But we’re part of something much bigger, and the Pope and the Conclave is a great time to remember, I’m a part of something much bigger. I’m part of a bigger family, I’m part of a bigger mission.”

Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church on Thursday.

Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV.

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