May 8, 2025 // Bishop

Bishop Rhoades: ‘A Joyful Day for the Church to Have a New Shepherd’

Scott Warden

Editor-In-Chief

After white smoke poured out from the chimney atop the Sistine Chapel, signaling that the conclave had ended and that the cardinal-electors, guided by the Holy Spirit, had finished their task of electing a new pope, Bishop Rhoades joined other members of the diocesan curia in a gathering room on the seventh floor of the Archbishop Noll Catholic Center in downtown Fort Wayne to await word on who had been chosen as the next pope.

More than an hour after the white smoke appeared, French Cardinal Dominique Mamberti, protodeacon of the College of Cardinals, announced, in Latin, the name of Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops and a Chicago native. The meeting room of the diocese’s Secretariat of Communications fell silent, as all who were gathered – including Father Mark Gurtner, vicar general of the diocese; Joe Garcia, chancellor; and Alex Giltner, director of the Office of Catechesis – were stunned by the news that the first American pope had been elected.

“I wasn’t expecting Cardinal Prevost to be elected, so my initial reaction was pretty shocked,” Bishop Rhoades told members of the media, including Today’s Catholic, immediately following the announcement of the new pope. “But at the same time, I was filled with joy. I love the name, Pope Leo XIV, and I got to know Pope Leo when we were together in a group at the Synod of Bishops. I know him [Pope Leo XIV] personally. I think it’s a joyful day for the Church to have a new shepherd.”

Asked what kind of impact an American pope could have on the U.S. Church, Bishop Rhoades said: “I think there’ll be a lot of excitement in nearby Chicago, where he’s from, but I also for the whole Catholic Church of the United States. Everyone said, ‘There’s not going to be an American Pope, because America is a superpower,’ so it is a big surprise. He spent most of his priestly ministry as a missionary in Peru. He was a bishop in Peru, but he is an American.”

During the second session of the Synod of Bishops on synodality in Rome, held last October, Bishop Rhoades spent 10 days with then-Cardinal Prevost in a working group together.

“He was very gentle and friendly – and definitely has a good intellect,” Bishop Rhoades said. “He has a quieter personality – that was my experience. We engaged in several discussions, and he was always, I would say, very good at listening to others in the group. He was also very insightful. I think he will be a humble pope and follow in the footsteps of Pope Francis in many ways.”

Asked about continuing the legacy of Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, April 21, Bishop Rhoades said: “I think he will be greatly committed to the poor. He was a missionary bishop and left the United States to serve the poor in Peru. He has this love for the poor, like Pope Francis. But, I also think he has that missionary spirit, desiring to evangelize and spread the faith. He’s also a religious, an Augustinian, so he took the vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. Francis was a Jesuit, so you can definitely see similarities.”

Later in the afternoon, Bishop Rhoades published a statement on the election of Pope Leo XIV:

“I welcome the news of the election of our new Pope, Leo XIV, with joyful hope. His first words to Rome and to the world from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica were the words of greeting of the Risen Jesus to His disciples: ‘Peace be with you!’ These are simple and beautiful words of greeting from our new Holy Father, the successor of St. Peter, who expressed the desire that these words of peace enter our hearts, our families, and our world.

“I remember serving in one of the working groups with Cardinal Prevost at the Synod of Bishops in Rome. We sat next to each other, and I enjoyed our conversations.  Cardinal Prevost was a very good listener, and, when he spoke, he rather quietly offered his own prayerful insights into the topics we were discussing. I was impressed by his intelligence, kindness, and humility.

“I was not surprised that, as an Augustinian friar, he quoted these words of St. Augustine in his greeting to us: ‘With you, I am a Christian; for you I am a bishop.’ Pope Leo has invited all of us to walk together in unity toward the homeland that God has prepared for us. I hope that in an often-divided society and world, we will heed these words and work to build unity in the Church and in the world.

“It is hard to imagine the weight on the shoulders of our new Holy Father, so I invite all the faithful of our diocese to pray for him. May God bless Pope Leo XIV with the wisdom, grace, and fortitude he will need to serve the Church and the world after the heart of Christ, the Good Shepherd!”