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.

Pope Leo XIV has taken the reins as leader of the Catholic Church, starting his first day as Pontiff with a mass at the Sistine Chapel, during which he called his election both a cross and a blessing.

Pope Leo XIV took his first trip outside the Vatican on Saturday, heading about an hour's drive east of Rome to the small Italian town of Genazzano to visit a shrine to the Virgin Mary. The new pontiff arrived for the unannounced visit in the passenger seat of a Volkswagen vehicle and was greeted to cheers from crowds gathered outside the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Counsel.

Just days after making history as the first American Pope, Illinois native Pope Leo XIV is preparing for a reunion with his siblings in Rome, where his brother John Prevost will join him to celebrate this unprecedented moment for the Catholic Church and Chicago alike.