Following the selection of Pope Leo XIV, Bishop Robert McClory said he felt tremendous excitement and gratitude to God.

“It’s a time of great joy,” McClory said. “That’s what the cardinal says as they’re getting ready to introduce the new pope. He says, ‘We have great news to share,’ and this is certainly great news.”

For those in Chicagoland, the news is particularly electrifying, said the leader of the Gary Diocese.

Robert Prevost, who took the name Pope Leo XIV, is a 69-year-old who was born in Chicago and grew up in Dolton, Illinois. He is the first American to be named leader of the Catholic church.

According to the Associated Press, Prevost had been a leading candidate for the papacy.

Prevost was selected shortly after 6 p.m. on the second day of the conclave, according to the Associated Press.

The conclave was called after former Pope Francis, the first Latin American pontiff, died at 88 in April. The Vatican said he died of a stroke that put him into a coma and led to heart failure.

The former pope was hospitalized with bronchitis, double pneumonia and acute respiratory failure for more than a month, starting in mid-February, but he was released in late March. He made his final appearance on Easter Sunday in St. Peters Square.

McClory never expected to see an American pope in his lifetime, he said Thursday.

“The rationale was typically because the United States has such a globally dominant position in the area of politics and culture and military and economics and so on,” McClory said. “The conventional thinking was always that it would be very challenging to have an American become pope.”

Because he has extensive missionary experience and is also a Peruvian citizen, the conclave seemed more willing to name Prevost leader of the church.

“Though he’s an American, he is an American based on biographical details, who has had a different set of church experiences, majority of which are outside the United States, so that should prepare him very well to understand the needs of the entire church,” McClory said.

Although Prevost is from Chicago, McClory has not met the new pope. However, he is leading a pilgrimage group from the Gary diocese later this year, and the group will meet the pope.

McClory is excited to meet Prevost and to celebrate his new appointment as leader of the church.

“I’m grateful that he’s been shaped by this beautiful part of the country, and I’m sure that will serve him well as he serves the whole church,” McClory said.

As he looks forward to Prevost’s time as Pope Leo XIV, McClory hopes that he exhibits the missionary zeal that he lived through priesthood. The new pope is a son of Saint Augustine, who McClory sid is one of the most famous stories of conversion in Christianity.

“Saint Augustine’s heart was touched by Christ,” he said. “And I pray that Pope Leo will be able to reach many hearts for Christ in the same way that Saint Augustine’s life was changed during that encounter with Christ.”

The Associated Press contributed.

mwilkins@chicagotribune.com