As Introduced

136th General Assembly

Regular Session S. R. No. 304

2025-2026

Senators Romanchuk, Huffman

A R E S O L U T I O N

To honor Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the United States of America, and to highlight his life and accomplishments.

BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF OHIO:

WHEREAS, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Pope, in a continuous line back to Peter, on May 8, 2025, becoming the first American Pope, and chose Leo XIV as his papal name; and

WHEREAS, The first pontiff from the Augustinian order and the first from the United States and North America, a son of the Midwest with French, Italian, Spanish, and Louisiana Creole decent, Pope Leo XIV was born at Mercy Hospital in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, on September 14, 1955, to Mildred Agnes Prevost, an educator and a librarian, and Louis Marius Prevost, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and an educator and later, a superintendent; he grew up in Dolton, Illinois with two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph; he attended St. Mary of the Assumption Church and Elementary School where he sang in the choir and served as an altar boy; from 1969 to 1973, he attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, Michigan where he was consistently on the honor roll, served as a yearbook editor-in-chief, headed the speech and debate team, and was on the bowling and tennis teams; he went on to complete his bachelor's degree in mathematics at Villanova University, where he also studied philosophy; in 1977, he entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine in the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel of Chicago; on August 29, 1981, he made his solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience and received his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago; on September 10, 1981, he was ordained a deacon at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Point Park, Michigan; his superiors then sent him to Rome, where, on June 19, 1982, he was ordained a priest at the Augustinian College of St. Monica and, in 1987, earned his doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas; and

WHEREAS, A man born in Illinois and educated in Pennsylvania rises to the title of the Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo XIV has extensive international experience; sent to an Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and returned in 1988 where he headed the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, teaching canon law and working in parish ministry serving poor farmers and Peruvian indigenous people and defending the human rights of the people in the Norte Chico region, he served that nation's Catholic population in many roles, including as a missionary, parish priest, and professor; he was twice elected Prior General of the Ordinary General Chapter of the Order of St. Augustine, serving two consecutive six-year terms from 2001 until 2013, and, on September 26, 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo where he supported refugees, encouraged vocations to religious life, and helped victims of human trafficking; eight years later, on January 30, 2023, Pope Francis promoted him to archbishop and called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a department within the Vatican's administration, which assists the Pope in evaluating and recommending candidates worldwide to be named a bishop, and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America; he was also named a member of the Dicasteries for Evangelization; on September 30, 2023, Pope Francis created him Cardinal in the Consistory of which he officially took possession on January 28, 2024, and Pope Francis elevated him to the Order of Bishops the following year, granting him the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano; following Pope Francis' hospitalization in February 2025, Cardinal Prevost presided over the March 3 Rosary for the Pope in St. Peter's Square; on May 8, 2025, he was elected Pope and took the name Leo XIV in honor of Pope Leo XIII who established modern Catholic social teaching and promoted labor rights; and

WHEREAS, Pope Leo XIV stated, "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."; and

WHEREAS, On October 4, 2025, he issued his first Apostolic Exhortation, Dilexi te (on Love for the Poor), which was started by Pope Francis in continuation of his Encyclical Dilexit Nos, but Pope Leo XIV added reflections and made it his own, expressing a desire that all Christians come to appreciate the close connection between Christ's love and his summons to care for the poor; and

WHEREAS, On October 21, 2025, Pope Leo XIV was the first Pope to hold a live stream encounter with 16,000 youth at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana, answering questions from the teenagers directly; and

WHEREAS, With the selection of the name of Pope Leo XIV, and the ties to the encyclical Rerum Novarum, we are encouraged to work for the policies that recognize the dignity of work and the primacy of the family; and

WHEREAS, Pope Leo XIV has proven himself to be a spiritual leader of tremendous ability, and his faith community around the world looks forward to an era defined by his wisdom, compassion, and devotion; and

WHEREAS, The first Catholic church in Ohio, St. Joseph Catholic Church, was established in 1818 in Somerset, Ohio to minister to ten European immigrant families; and

WHEREAS, Ohio is now home to over two million Catholics, representing 16.8% of the population, 703 Catholic parishes, and 363 Catholic schools educating 114,000 students; and

WHEREAS, Catholic social service agencies and charities continue to serve thousands of people in need across Ohio, regardless of their faith background; now therefore be it

RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Senate of the 136th General Assembly of the State of Ohio, in adopting this resolution, honor Pope Leo XIV on the occasion of his election to the papacy and extend to him sincere best wishes for the future; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit a duly authenticated copy of this resolution to Pope Leo XIV as an expression of high regard by the Ohio Senate.