‘Sense of National Pride’: W.Va. Lawmaker Offers Resolution Honoring First American Pope

Rep. Riley Moore wants Congress to celebrate the historic election of the first American pope.

The West Virginia Republican has introduced a House resolution to honor Pope Leo XIV after his unprecedented election to head the Roman Catholic Church on May 8. 

The resolution congratulates Pope Leo XIV on his election, commends him “for a lifetime of service, humility, missionary zeal, and commitment to embodying Christ’s mercy and pastoral care,” and offers prayers for his new pontificate. 

“I was thrilled to hear of Pope Leo’s XIV election to the Chair of St. Peter, and have felt a tremendous sense of national pride that an American now leads the Catholic Church,” Moore said in a statement. 

“I pray the Lord blesses the Holy Father with the great wisdom and unyielding courage necessary to preach the Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” the West Virginia congressman added. 

The resolution comes as the pope is poised to potentially provide a vital ethical perspective on the development of emerging technologies, such as gene editing and artificial intelligence. The new pope has acknowledged that the Catholic Church should answer the call to provide a moral compass on these pressing issues.

“In our own day, the Church offers to everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the defense of human dignity, justice, and labor,” the new pope said. 

Moore, who is a practicing Catholic, co-leads the bipartisan effort with Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., and it is co-sponsored by 21 other members of the House of Representatives. Moore is one of several high-profile Catholics in public life now, a contingent that includes Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and first lady Melania Trump. 

The resolution briefly describes the new pontiff’s very American background. Born Robert Francis Prevost, the document discusses the pope’s childhood in Chicago, where he was raised in the suburb of Dolton, and his graduation from two Catholic American colleges: Villanova University and the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago. 

The resolution then outlines the new pope’s rise to prominence in the Catholic Church, from serving as a bishop in Peru to leading the church’s office for helping select new bishops, and finally his elevation to the cardinalate in 2023. The new pope is also the first priest of the Order of St. Augustine to be elected to the papacy. 

It also quotes the pope’s words on the importance of belief, citing a lack of belief as coinciding with “the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family, and so many other wounds that afflict our society.”

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