Kansas City bishops surprised, optimistic with election of Leo XIV, first American pope

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Catholic Church made history on Thursday with the election of its 267th sovereign pontiff.

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected to lead the Church and selected the name Leo XIV.

The new pope was born in Chicago and became the first Holy Father from the United States of America.

Bishop James Johnston, who oversees the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph, said he was excited and surprised when the announcement was made.

“Many people have said, I’ve heard for years, there will never be an American pope,” he said. “For this to occur today is historic.”

Archbishop Joseph Naumann of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas echoed his peer’s reaction of shock and excitement.

“I didn’t think in my lifetime I would see a pope who was born in the United States and came out of the Church in the United States,” Naumann told KCTV5. "

Pope Leo XIV is also a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as an archbishop.

“When I saw him come out, I found myself getting a little emotional,” said Nick Redd, who leads St. Paul’s Outreach, a young adult Catholic community group in the Kansas City-area.

Reed says initially he didn’t think a pope from the United States was a possibility. He tells us soon after that, he discovered another connection he had to the new pope.

“I was out at KU this afternoon,” said Redd. “I walked in the St. Lawrence Catholic Center and my co-lead Olivia walked up and said ‘dude, Nick, he’s from Illinois’. I said bologna sandwich, no he’s not! I’m from Illinois. She told me ‘no seriously, he is!” Super cool.”

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