After the sorrow of death, the joy of a new starting point.

The warm sunshine is still high in the sky as the roar echoes the streets around St. Peter’s Square.

On one street, people who were startled looked at each other and then at their phones. Then they began running along the narrow alley leading to the Vatican. “Baiyan, they said Baiyan!”, they shouted.

By the time they arrived at the square, a white haze was still hovering on the left side of the Apostles’ Palace, and since the previous day, 133 cardinals have been locked to vote to elect the new director of the Catholic Church.

As the evening sun shone through the statue of the apostle on the ledge of St. Peter’s Basilica, the bells and bells were happily wasted in the square, young and old people jagged in the crowd, and a group of nuns held hands as they spiral journalists and photographers.

Less than three weeks ago, Pope Francis blessed the crowds on the balcony of St Peter’s, whose memories shrouded the square on Thursday. Almost everyone asked to share their impressions, mentioning Francis and the footsteps of the new pope.

“We just arrived from the United States today,” a woman named Amanda told the BBC. “It felt like a blessing. We were here for that.”

“God’s timing!” she joked. Two fashionable women in their 20s said they were “to cry.” “It’s a historic moment, it’s crazy,” one said. She hopes the next pope is “at least as good as the last one”.

In the last few minutes before the announcement of Pope Leo XIV, it was the sentiment that many people responded to.

“It doesn’t matter to us as long as he follows Frances’ footsteps and builds unity for us all.”

When we arrived at Dominique Mamberti, it was the original doomsday that appeared on the balcony, responsible for conveying the iconic “Habemus Papam” address to the square. But once the name of Robert Francis Prevost was read out, it was silent.

Those who know it may have identified the 69-year-old cardinal, born in Chicago, who served as a missionary in Peru for many years and was then appointed bishop there- could have become a potential pope early on.

But many on the square looked confused at first, and the total lack of telephone coverage meant that most people couldn’t find him on the internet – so the first Pope Leo XIV that was first acquired boiled down to how he introduced himself from the gorgeous balcony.

It was obviously moved from the beginning, wearing white and red clothes, and full of confidence – if slightly accented – in Italian, his speech was much longer than what his predecessor Francis made in 2013.

“I hope that the greetings of peace will reach your whole heart… and people all over the world. Maybe peace is with you.” The new pope begins, and the square begins.

At other moments, his speech received frequent applause, especially when he mentioned “peace” (his nine times of peace) and the late Francis.

Part of the speech was delivered in Spanish, where Pope Leo remembers his time in Peru and the cheers from various pockets of South America throughout the square.

He also insisted on the need for unity and finally asked everyone to pray together. As he began to recite Ave Maria, the square followed suit, deep buzzed and prayed in his own language.

Soon after, the crowd began to slowly emerge from the square. As people flow through them, a young couple approached each other and smiled. “I still have chicken skin ump,” said Cara of Barcelona.

“The energy is contagious and amazing – this is our first time here, and for me it’s 100% surreal.” When asked what his hope for Pope Leo XIV was, he said: “The Holy Spirit guided him. I hope that means we can all be united.”

Rome resident Gemma said she didn’t even hear the name of Robert Prevost until she encountered it this morning on Instagram. Her friend Marco added: “The reaction at the square was not that warm.”

“If he was Italian, everyone would start,” Gemma said. “But it was a beautiful night, a wonderful moment.” “This is my first meeting. This new pope has only 69, so who knows when the next one will?”

The square is cleared. Restaurants around the Vatican are filled with pilgrims, clergy and tourists. The couple took their last selfie outside the cathedral.

Robert Prevost held a moment of private prayer in the Apostle Palace (now unsealed).

He then re-entered the Sistine Church for the first time as the Leo of the 267th Pope.