ROME — The new Chicago-raised Pope Leo XIV faces an immediate challenge in his native country: taming the brawling U.S. tribe of Catholics, riven by political divisions that have thwarted the will of his predecessors.

Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms of Pope Francis’ pontificate by having women serve on the Vatican board that vets nominations for bishops.

A Midwesterner, like the new Pope Leo XIV, Burger swelled with pride and saw a little opportunity for motivation. “Basically, I kind of thought: New Pope, new me,” Burger said Wednesday night. “He’s a Midwestern guy like me. I was proud. And since he’s been elected Pope, we’ve been rather hot.”

Less than a week after Pope Leo XIV took the helm as head of the Catholic Church, he is already making the first social media posts of his papacy and promising to maintain an active digital presence.

The U.S.-born pope spent about a dozen years as a missionary in Peru and returned there later to serve as a bishop.

It seems that Cardinal Robert Prevost, the first American to lead the Catholic Church, has previously condemned President Donald Trump’s border policies

The U.S. is one of only a handful of countries that taxes citizens living abroad. Thus, thanks to his American passport, the 69-year-old Chicago-born pope, known until last week as Robert Prevost, will likely need to file a tax return to the U.S. government just like any other citizen, experts told Fortune.

Pope Leo XIV has broken the seal on the papal apartments, marking one of his first major symbolic moments as pontiff