Excitement rippled through New York City's St. Patrick's Cathedral on Sunday morning, the first since an American was picked to lead the Roman Catholic Church in a selection that surprised and delighted many of his countrymen and women.

“I’m ecstatic,” said Alec Maddox, 32, a consultant who lives in San Diego, although he and his two brothers, Tommy, 30, and Jack, 28, admitted they didn’t know too much about the new Pope Leo XIV, either.