SR 304

As Introduced
136th General Assembly
    Regular Session  S. R. No. 304
       2025-2026
  Senators Romanchuk, Huffman
  A RESOLUTION
  To honor Pope Leo XIV, the first Pope from the United   1
  States of America, and to highlight his life and      2
  accomplishments.  3
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE STATE OF OHIO:
    WHEREAS, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the     4
267th Pope, in a continuous line back to Peter, on May 8, 2025,     5
becoming the first American Pope, and chose Leo XIV as his papal    6
name; and  7
    WHEREAS, The first pontiff from the Augustinian order and       8
the first from the United States and North America, a son of the    9
Midwest with French, Italian, Spanish, and Louisiana Creole  10
decent, Pope Leo XIV was born at Mercy Hospital in the  11
Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, on September 14,     12
1955, to Mildred Agnes Prevost, an educator and a librarian, and    13
Louis Marius Prevost, a U.S. Navy veteran of World War II and an    14
educator and later, a superintendent; he grew up in Dolton,  15
Illinois with two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph; he        16
attended St. Mary of the Assumption Church and Elementary School    17
where he sang in the choir and served as an altar boy; from 1969    18
to 1973, he attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in  19
Holland, Michigan where he was consistently on the honor roll,      20
served as a yearbook editor-in-chief, headed the speech and  21
debate team, and was on the bowling and tennis teams; he went on    22
S. R. No. 304  Page 2
As Introduced
to complete his bachelor's degree in mathematics at Villanova  23
University, where he also studied philosophy; in 1977, he  24
entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine in the  25
Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel of Chicago; on August 29,  26
1981, he made his solemn vows of poverty, chastity, and  27
obedience and received his theological education at the Catholic  28
Theological Union in Chicago; on September 10, 1981, he was  29
ordained a deacon at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse  30
Point Park, Michigan; his superiors then sent him to Rome,  31
where, on June 19, 1982, he was ordained a priest at the  32
Augustinian College of St. Monica and, in 1987, earned his  33
doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St.  34
Thomas Aquinas; and  35
      WHEREAS, A man born in Illinois and educated in  36
Pennsylvania rises to the title of the Vicar of Christ, Pope Leo  37
XIV has extensive international experience; sent to an  38
Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and returned in 1988 where  39
he headed the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, teaching canon  40
law and working in parish ministry serving poor farmers and  41
Peruvian indigenous people and defending the human rights of the  42
people in the Norte Chico region, he served that nation's  43
Catholic population in many roles, including as a missionary,  44
parish priest, and professor; he was twice elected Prior General  45
of the Ordinary General Chapter of the Order of St. Augustine,  46
serving two consecutive six-year terms from 2001 until 2013,  47
and, on September 26, 2015, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo  48
where he supported refugees, encouraged vocations to religious  49
life, and helped victims of human trafficking; eight years  50
later, on January 30, 2023, Pope Francis promoted him to  51
archbishop and called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery  52
for Bishops, a department within the Vatican's administration,  53
which assists the Pope in evaluating and recommending candidates  54
worldwide to be named a bishop, and President of the Pontifical  55
S. R. No. 304  Page 3
As Introduced
Commission for Latin America; he was also named a member of the  56
Dicasteries for Evangelization; on September 30, 2023, Pope  57
Francis created him Cardinal in the Consistory of which he  58
officially took possession on January 28, 2024, and Pope Francis  59
elevated him to the Order of Bishops the following year,  60
granting him the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano;  61
following Pope Francis' hospitalization in February 2025,  62
Cardinal Prevost presided over the March 3 Rosary for the Pope  63
in St. Peter's Square; on May 8, 2025, he was elected Pope and  64
took the name Leo XIV in honor of Pope Leo XIII who established  65
modern Catholic social teaching and promoted labor rights; and  66
      WHEREAS, Pope Leo XIV stated, "the Church offers to  67
everyone the treasury of her social teaching in response to  68
another industrial revolution and to developments in the field  69
of artificial intelligence that pose new challenges for the  70
defense of human dignity, justice, and labor."; and  71
      WHEREAS, On October 4, 2025, he issued his first Apostolic  72
Exhortation, Dilexi te (on Love for the Poor), which was started  73
by Pope Francis in continuation of his Encyclical Dilexit Nos,  74
but Pope Leo XIV added reflections and made it his own,  75
expressing a desire that all Christians come to appreciate the  76
close connection between Christ's love and his summons to care  77
for the poor; and  78
      WHEREAS, On October 21, 2025, Pope Leo XIV was the first  79
Pope to hold a live stream encounter with 16,000 youth at the  80
National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis, Indiana,  81
answering questions from the teenagers directly; and  82
      WHEREAS, With the selection of the name of Pope Leo XIV,  83
and the ties to the encyclical Rerum Novarum, we are encouraged  84
to work for the policies that recognize the dignity of work and  85
the primacy of the family; and  86
      WHEREAS, Pope Leo XIV has proven himself to be a spiritual  87
S. R. No. 304  Page 4
As Introduced
leader of tremendous ability, and his faith community around the  88
world looks forward to an era defined by his wisdom, compassion,  89
and devotion; and  90
      WHEREAS, The first Catholic church in Ohio, St. Joseph  91
Catholic Church, was established in 1818 in Somerset, Ohio to  92
minister to ten European immigrant families; and  93
      WHEREAS, Ohio is now home to over two million Catholics,  94
representing 16.8% of the population, 703 Catholic parishes, and  95
363 Catholic schools educating 114,000 students; and  96
      WHEREAS, Catholic social service agencies and charities  97
continue to serve thousands of people in need across Ohio,  98
regardless of their faith background; now therefore be it  99
      RESOLVED, That we, the members of the Senate of the 136th  100
General Assembly of the State of Ohio, in adopting this  101
resolution, honor Pope Leo XIV on the occasion of his election  102
to the papacy and extend to him sincere best wishes for the  103
future; and be it further  104
      RESOLVED, That the Clerk of the Senate transmit a duly  105
authenticated copy of this resolution to Pope Leo XIV as an  106
expression of high regard by the Ohio Senate.  107