Brooklyn Diocesan Bishop welcomes election of Pope Leo XIV

May 9, 2025 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears at the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025. Photo: Alessandra Tarantino/AP

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PROSPECT HEIGHTS — CALLING IT “AN AMAZING AND HISTORIC DAY for the Universal Catholic Church and the United States of America,” Brooklyn Diocesan Bishop Robert Brennan celebrated Thursday’s election of Cardinal Robert Prevost as the first U.S.-born pontiff and 267th successor of St. Peter. Prevost has taken the name Pope Leo XIV.

“As we mark the start of a new papacy, the Church welcomes Pope Leo XIV warmly and with great love, excited by this new era and this new Pope who will lead the Church forward. Our new Holy Father’s words today were very carefully chosen — his already powerful words were those of peace,” said Brennan. “As Christians throughout the world unite to pray for an end to religious persecution and the violence of war and for a renewed respect for the human dignity of all people, God has truly given us the Pope we need for this time.”

Pope Leo XIV will lead the world’s more than 1.4 billion Catholics. Bishop Brennan devoted his weekly “Big City Catholic” podcast to the new pontiff, in a program titled “Habemus Papam.” It can be accessed via the diocesan website.

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