BUTTE — One week ago, the world learned that there would be a new leader of the Roman Catholic Church, and right here in Butte, where there is a long history with the Church, parishioners at St. Patrick’s parish are holding a special service to ponder what this leadership means to their faith.

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"I think he gives us hope because this world is, especially our country, is in terrible and I think the Pope is going to bring us hope," says Mary Lou Fitzpatrick, a parishioner at St. Patrick's Catholic Church.

Fitzpatrick is gathered in honor of Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope elected to lead the world’s 1.6 billion Catholics. She is joined by 20 other parishioners for a rare weekday Mass.

"It was a way to celebrate the fact that he’s our first American Pope, and a lot of people are very excited about that. A lot of people thought it was something we would never see," says Father Patrick Beretta, the priest at St. Patrick's parish.

Father Beretta leads parishioners through a brief history of the papacy, including a shift of power during the time of Napoleon, when the Pope at the time witnessed droves of followers lining the route between Rome and Paris.

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"He was received with incredible warmth. Incredible respect and reverence. When Napoleon received the reports of this, it enraged hi,m but there was nothing he could do," says Father Beretta.

Father Beretta continues with the example set by Pope Leo XIII – the new Pope’s namesake—who championed workers’ rights when he came to power in the late 1800s during the Industrial Revolution.

"He was the first one to really realize that industrialization was making some people very wealthy but hurting some others terribly," says Father Beretta.

Father Beretta says it's too soon to know what kind of leadership the new Pope will provide.

"There is so much in the legacy of Pope Leo the 13th that I hope will inspire our next Pope because he was so transformative."