Two days into the conclave, Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected as the new head of the Catholic Church, choosing the papal name Leo XIV.
It is the first time in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church that the pope is from the United States.
Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and raised in a nearby Illinois suburb. He joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1977 and spent most of his career ministering in Peru.
Baltimore Archbishop William Lori was “very surprised” by the conclave’s decision, but was “quickly moved from being surprised to being delighted.”
He told WTOP he’s met Leo on several occasions and called him a man of “deep intelligence and a good listener.”
Leo was appointed by the late Pope Francis as the prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops, which oversees the selection of most new bishops and requires papal approval.
“He was very widely known. I think many of the cardinals there just knew him to be a good, prayerful, humble man that has what it takes to take to lead the church,” Lori said.
Bishop Michael Burbidge, of the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, told WTOP he had a similar reaction as Lori.
“I would say surprised, but overjoyed in knowing that our country is, through the grace of God, giving the universal church and the world a holy, a faithful, intelligent, approachable shepherd. So lots of joy from around the diocese and our communities,” he said.
Burbidge said Leo’s vast experience from traveling around the world likely played a part in his selection as pope.
“One thing about our new Holy Father is he was born and raised in Chicago, and is an Augustinian, and also has a world experience, spending so much time in Peru and recently in Rome itself, head of a major congregation,” Burbidge said.
“He’s someone known for his experience from around the world as a true missionary, and so he is now the Holy Father for our universal church.”
Leo said in his debut remarks that he hopes to “build bridges” between the West and the Vatican: “Help us, too, and help each other to build bridges, with dialogue, with meetings, uniting us all to be one people, always in peace.”
“You can tell a lot from initial words,” Burbidge said. “I really see what was so important to Pope Francis that of unity, reconciling the world, helping us to live in peace together as God’s family, will be a major focus of our new Holy Father.”
“I think he will be urging all the churches, all of the dioceses of the world to really double down on our mission of evangelization, to be zealous and joyful for proponents and protagonists of the gospel,” Lori said. “I think that’s where he’s going to lead us.”
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