Father Cuevas Reflects on “Electric Excitement” at Two Papal Elections

When white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel on May 8, thousands flocked to St. Peter’s square. They were filled with elation at the announcement "Habemus Papam!" (“We have a pope!”). Those emotions were topped  with surprise that the first American pope had been elected  with Pope Leo XIV.

Like most Catholics, Father Randy Cuevas, retired priest of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, watched the events unfold on television. But twice he has experienced the excitement of being in St. Peter’s Square and witnessing the first appearances of a pope on the central loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica. He was a young seminarian studying in Rome when Pope John Paul I was elected pope on August 26, 1978, and died 33 days later. He was also present when that pope’s successor, St. John Paul II, was elected pope on October 16, 1978.

Father Cuevas graduated with a degree in Theology from Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome in 1981, and a degree in Dogmatic-Sacramental Theology from Pontifical Athenaeum Sant’ Anselmo in Rome in 1983.

Reflecting on the two papal elections he witnessed, Father Cuevas said, “the atmosphere was a contagious, electric excitement.”

He and his fellow seminarians attended an audience held inside the Paul VI Audience Hall with Pope John Paul I just two days before the latter’s death. He witnessed the last time a pope was carried on a sedia gestatoria (ceremonial throne). 

In a little over a month we had lived a full pontificate in the Eternal City.” Father Randy Cuevas

“I remember the widespread initial feelings of shock and disbelief and then getting caught up with experiencing all that was happening so fast with preparations for paying final respects to the pope in St. Peter’s Basilica and attending the funeral of a pope,” said Father Cuevas.

He added, “A few of us (American seminarians) had the unique experience of waiting table at evening meals of the U.S. cardinals when they came for the meetings of all cardinals in the days that preceded the start of the conclave that elected Pope St. John Paul II. In those days, many of the visiting U.S. cardinals stayed at a residence outside the Vatican before the conclave started. The Domus Sanctae Marthae inside the Vatican had not yet been constructed.”

The atmosphere at the seminary was prayerful, filled with reverent excitement, and consumed with talks about the conclaves and elections, according to Father Cuevas.

“I think they were the only topics of conversation at the time,” Father Cuevas.

The conclaves and elections were not factored into the seminary lessons because they were a “lived experience,” Father Cuevas said.

“In a little over a month we had lived a full pontificate in the Eternal City,” said Father Cuevas. He spoke with St. John Paul II in 1978 when he accompanied the bishops for their ad limina visits. 

Being present at the conclaves and papal elections deepened Father Cuevas’ appreciation of the universal scope of the Catholic Church.

“The biggest takeaway was being entirely immersed in the experience of the Church universal,” said Father Cuevas.

He was pleasantly surprised by the election of Pope Leo XIV.

“(It is) a reward of trust in the guidance of the Holy Spirit; just who the Church needs at this time in its history and time in the world,” said Father Cuevas.

He hopes there will be an “increase in respect, tolerance, and unity within the church to best reflect Jesus in the world.”