D-FW’s faithful react with hope, surprise, excitement to news of first American pope

North Texas’ Catholic community reacted with surprise and excitement to Thursday’s news that Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.

Prevost, 69, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and led the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, took the name Leo XIV.

“This is a moment of profound hope and renewal for the church, as our Lord has provided a new shepherd to guide us in faith, truth and charity,” Dallas’ Bishop Edward J. Burns said at a news conference at the Catholic Diocese of Dallas Pastoral Center.

“What a surprise to learn that a young country like the United States of America would bring forth one of her own sons to become the shepherd of the universal church,” he said. ”This is a historic moment for the Catholic Church in the United States and throughout the world."

While Burns said he has never met Leo XIV, he said the new pope is well versed and has made great connections all over the world, from his upbringing in Chicago to time spent serving in Peru. Burns said he expects advocacy for peace to be a large part of Leo XIV’s pontificate and ministry.

Burns said he is praying for God to grant Leo XIV with a spirit of courage, comion and love. “May God bless our Holy Father and Mary, Mother of the church, intercede for him as he begins his pontificate,” Burns said.

Ron Rombs, dean and director of the University of Dallas Rome Program, said he was in his office at the University of Dallas’ Rome campus when he heard the news of the white smoke, signaling the new pope’s election. He began frantically texting with friends and colleagues, swapping guesses about who the next pope would be, and said the announcement felt “electrifying.”

“That there would be a native-born American pope is really hard to imagine — I would say the chances of that were almost zero,” he said.

Susan Hanssen, a University of Dallas history professor, said students on campus rushed to the basement of a student center building to watch live broadcasts from Fox News and ABC News as soon as they heard a new pope had been named.

“It’s really a kind of coming of age — a sign of maturity in the American Catholic Church,” she said of the new pope’s selection. Hanssen said it was significant that Pope Leo XIV wasn’t known for leading a large urban diocese in the U.S., like many U.S. Cardinals with influence on the international stage, but had instead spent most of his career doing missionary work in Peru.

“In some sense, he’s better known by the universal church, better known in Rome and better known in Peru, than he is in America,” she said.

Hanssen also said she didn’t think U.S. politics played a large role in the selection of the first American pope. “He’s a very retiring, soft-spoken fellow,” she said of Pope Leo XIV. “I don’t think that they could have had in mind someone who could match our current American president word-for-word and blow-for-blow.”

The name Pope Leo

“The name Pope Leo is very exciting,” said Christopher Malloy, author of False Mercy and University of Dallas chair of theology. Malloy said the name called to mind Pope Leo XIII, who Malloy said was a man of clear doctrine, sound judgment on social issues and adherence to church tradition.

“The look that I saw on the new pope’s eyes, his face — it looked to me like he was holding back tears,” Malloy said of Leo XIV‘s first speech as pope. “It looked to me like he had a deep sense of the spiritual dimension that’s going on here.”

“My ultimate hope is that Leo XIV has his eyes ultimately on Jesus Christ, and sees the social teaching in light of this even greater good, which is everyone’s being united in God, eternally,” Malloy said.

Rafael McDonnell, communications and advocacy manager for Dallas LGBTQ organization Resource Center, watched the news of the new pope’s announcement from a hotel room.

American Robert Prevost now Pope Leo XIV, selected as successor to Pope Francis

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He said he and his partner changed their vacation plans for the afternoon after hearing about the white smoke coming from the Vatican.

“They’ve certainly picked somebody, who at least at some level, is a continuation of Pope Francis,” McDonnell said. “But at the other level, I think the Cardinals have made a point, by picking a U.S. Cardinal, of saying — we’re watching what you’re doing.”

Elizabeth Villafranca, a Farmers Branch council member-elect and volunteer at Mary Immaculate Catholic Church, said she was “elated” at Leo XIV’s election.

“We could not have had the Holy Spirit send a better pope,” Villafranca said. In counting Leo XIV’s qualities, she said she liked his relatively young age and his willingness to spar with Vice President JD Vance on theology, referencing an X post Leo XIV made before becoming pope.

“I think the Holy Spirit knew exactly what the Holy Spirit was doing when He guided the Cardinals to elect him,” Villafranca said. “He even just has just sort of like this softness, this gentleness about him.”

Villafranca said she believes Leo XIV will be a continuation of Pope Francis, bringing stability in the church’s leadership. She said she believes Leo XIV is the right choice to bring people together.

“In the times that we’re living right now, where we’re hearing conflicting information about what it is to be a Christian, I think that he’s going to be the man for the job to sort of make sure that we all come back to being created in God’s image, and instead of us creating God in our image,” she said.

Matt Kramer, CEO of the Catholic Foundation, said the election of an American pope was surprising, especially since Prevost was not on many shortlists for the papacy.

Kramer said he felt the cardinals made their choice with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit.

“The Lord did His work. So that part’s not a surprise,” Kramer said. “We’re looking forward to the reign of Leo XIV.”

Kramer also said it is exciting to see how closely the rest of the world — Catholic or not — is following the election of the new pope.

Erupting in cheers

White smoke billowed out of the Sistine Chapel chimney at 11:07 a.m. Dallas time, and the great bells of St. Peter’s Basilica tolled Thursday, signaling that a pontiff had been elected to lead the Catholic Church.

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers, priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted, “Viva il papa!” after the white smoke wafted into the late afternoon sky.

The former pope, Francis, brought Prevost, 69, to the Vatican in 2023 to serve as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. As a result, Prevost had a prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals had.

Prevost, a Chicago native, is also a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as an archbishop.

He presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. In early 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals, suggesting he would at least be Francis’ choice in any future conclave.

Adrian Ashford covers faith and religion in North Texas for The Dallas Morning News through a partnership with Report for America.