Local reaction to selection of a new Pope

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. – Catholics around the world are still celebrating the selection of a new pope.

To the surprise of many in the United States, and around the world, Cardinal Robert Prevost was selected as the new holy father to the Catholic Church on Thursday afternoon. Taking the papal name of Pope Leo XIV, the first ever American pope hails from Chicago and entered seminary after the eighth grade.

Spending many years as a Bishop in Peru, he is expected to follow closely in former Pope Francis’s footsteps.

Here in Bowling Green, the Catholic community is still rejoicing in the news of the newest popes selection.

“I think it’s it’s just it’s a great day of rejoicing for us as a church. And it’s a great day for for not just to be Catholic, but for the whole world. The pope always plays a role on the world stage of kind of calling others to unity, calling them being a voice for peace. And I think we’ll continue to see that and be grateful for that voice for those who need it,” said Father Corey Bruns, the Parochial Vicar of St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Bowling Green.

While is it is very unlikely the Pope visits Bowling Green any time soon, there could be a possible connection in just a few years.

Bishop William Medley, the Bishop of the Diocese of Owensboro which serves Bowling Green, is set to reach retirement age in two to three years, and the new pope will hand pick a new Bishop tasked to serve Catholic churches all across Western Kentucky.