"We were teasing him when he was six years old: 'you're going to be the Pope'" says the brother of Pope Leo XIV, the first American to lead the Catholic Church. Outside his home in Florida, his brother Louis recounts watching the white smoke rise from the Sistine Chapel: "At the back of my mind, I was like, 'they're going to elect Rob. I just know, I have this gut feeling'." The 73-year-old shares childhood memories, pride, and bittersweet uncertainty about what the papacy will mean for their relationship: "Will we ever get to talk to him like brothers again?"
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00:00You're watching the TV constantly, the chapel chimney, to see what kind of smoke is going to come out.
00:07And we watch the black smoke, the black smoke, the black smoke.
00:11In the back of my mind, I was like, they're going to elect Rob.
00:14Well, he comes out and he goes, oh, I have a new pope, but then his name is, and as soon as he went, Rob, I knew right away.
00:21He's going to say Robert Francis, and he goes, Roberto Francisco.
00:26And mind exploded, like I was in the bed sitting down.
00:33It's a good thing I was, because I probably would have fallen over.
00:36It's like, oh, my God.
00:38My brother's the pope?
00:39You're kidding me.
00:41The emotions run from super excited to, on the other end, oh, boy, my brother's the pope.
00:48This could be bad, you know, for family-wise.
00:53You know, will we ever see him again?
00:55And will we ever get to talk to him like brothers again, or will it have to be all official and clean?
01:02When we'd play games, you know, as kids, you know, you'd go out and play games.
01:08He liked to play priest a lot, which, what the heck, priest, really?
01:13We were teasing him when he was six years old.
01:16You're going to be the pope.
01:18Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
01:19And he didn't like that, you know.
01:22He said, hey, you don't want to be the pope.
01:24And a couple of neighbors would say, Bob, you're going to grow up to be the pope one day.
01:33Where do they get this stuff from?
01:35Who knew?
01:36Who knew if there just wasn't something about him that people could pick that up and go, you're going to be the pope someday.
01:44And here we are.
01:45He's the pope.
01:45Who knew?
01:58Who knew?
02:01Who knew?