For the first time, an American is the pope — and American lawmakers are thrilled.
“I called my family in Chicago,” Democratic Sen. Ruben Gallego told NOTUS on Thursday. “We’re all Catholics, and they’re all excited.”
“They’re doing research to see if we ever went to mass with him,” he said.
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago, succeeds Pope Francis as the 267th pope after Francis’ death in April. Prevost studied mathematics at Villanova University before entering the Order of Saint Augustine and being ordained as a priest. He served in Peru for two decades as a missionary, parish priest and bishop.
In a speech after his election Thursday, he said the Catholic church should be “always seeking peace and justice.”
“God loves us,” he said in Italian, according to a translation by CNN. “God loves everyone. Evil will not prevail.”
Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, a Catholic, responded to the selection with enthusiasm. He said his greatest hope for the new pope “is that he continues in the spirit of Pope Francis, who will go down as one of the greatest popes in the history of the world.”
“The Catholic Church has always represented those most in need: the refugees, the poor, the sick, the disabled,” Markey told reporters. “And this new pope channels that history of the Catholic Church, standing up for those who are most in need against those who are most powerful.”
Francis appointed Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals in 2025. The two seem to share similar views on one recent debate among Catholics: Vice President JD Vance’s view of rightly ordered love. Vance said earlier this year that Christians are to “love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country, and then after that you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”
Those comments prompted a letter from Pope Francis: “The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
A social media account that appears to be owned by Prevost shared an opinion piece in February titled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
Vance, who converted to Catholicism, congratulated him on his election Thursday. “I’m sure millions of American Catholics and other Christians will pray for his successful work leading the Church. May God bless him!”
Markey said he hopes the pope will “use his pastoral powers in order to help JD Vance and Donald Trump understand their responsibilities representing the most powerful and wealthiest nation in the world to ensure that we also protect those who are the most vulnerable.”
Republicans brushed off the posts on X. When asked, Sen. Cynthia Lummis told NOTUS it is “beside the point.”
“I’m very pleased that there’s going to be an American Pope,” she said. “I’m not Catholic, but that was unexpected … I just love seeing the embrace of an American.”
Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan, a Catholic, also said he was happy to see an American pope.
“I never thought that would happen,” he told reporters.
And Sen. Elissa Slotkin, a Michigan Democrat, said she is excited he’s from the Midwest.
“The first American pope, which is very exciting — but then midwesterner to boot,” she said. “We’re very happy.”
Sen. Peter Welch of Vermont told reporters that his sister, who is a nun, believes “this is a great choice.”
“It’s not just that he’s American that’s exciting,” he said, “but he’s going to continue the commitment that Pope Francis had to social justice.”
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Haley Byrd Wilt and Ursula Perano are reporters at NOTUS. Claire Heddles, Samuel Larreal, Em Luetkemeyer are NOTUS reporters and an Allbritton Journalism Institute fellows.