Foreign Policy

Lawmakers Are Amped About the American Pope

“I never thought that would happen,” Sen. Dan Sullivan said.

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican.
Alessandra Tarantino/AP

By Haley Byrd Wilt, Claire Heddles, Samuel Larreal, Em Luetkemeyer and Ursula Perano

May 8, 2025 03:01 PM

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.