Over the course of a day and a half, the more than 130 members of the College of Cardinals had come to a decision on who should lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. On May 8, 2025, they elected Cardinal Robert Prevost, who chose the name Leo XIV – becoming the first pope from the United States.

A couple dozen people walked through the open doors of the long-closed St. Mary of the Assumption parish Friday to see where Pope Leo XIV once attended church and "probably where he first felt God’s call to be a priest.