'A watershed moment': Evangelical leaders react to Pope Leo XIV

3. Eugene Cho

In a statement published Thursday, the Rev. Eugene Cho, who heads the Christian hunger advocacy organization Bread for the World, said the charity "celebrates with the Roman Catholic Church the election of Pope Leo XIV, the first American Pope."

Cho, born in Seoul and immigrated to the U.S. at age six, cheered the new pontiff's selection of Leo XIV as his papal name.

"We are grateful to see the choice of his name, showing his affinity with Pope Leo XIII, who made Catholic Social Teaching a central issue during his pontificate and which is deeply aligned with our mission to end hunger," Cho, who is ordained in the Ordained in the Evangelical Covenant Church.

"We look forward to learning more about Pope Leo XIV's plans for the Church and will be praying for him as he takes on this new mission," Cho asserted.