Cardinal Dolan, who turned 75 last February, reportedly submitted his resignation as required under church law, though Pope Francis did not act on it at the time. Dolan has led more than 2 million Catholics across New York for 16 years and is widely regarded as charismatic, approachable, and a steady public face for the church.

This story has been updated. The Catholic Church and its approximately 1.4 billion followers have a new leader and the first American pope. At 6:06 p.m. Rome time Thursday, May 8, white smoke emanated from the Sistine Chapel's chimney, signaling that the ...