Archbishop George Leo Thomas, head of one of the youngest and fastest-growing dioceses in the U.S., was made an archbishop last month when Pope Francis elevated Las Vegas to a metropolitan archdiocese, creating a new ecclesiastical province.

As a new metropolitan archbishop, Thomas received the pallium, a white woolen vestment adorned with six black silk crosses, from the pope at a Mass in St. Peter’s Basilica on Thursday, June 29, where approximately 60 Las Vegas Catholics and other family members and pilgrims were in attendance.

Almost 30 other metropolitan archbishops appointed in the past year  participated in the annual Mass for the solemnity of Sts. Peter and Paul. Archbishop Thomas is the only new metropolitan from the U.S.

After receiving the blessed pallium from Francis, Thomas will be invested in Guardian Angel Cathedral on Oct. 2.

The 73-year-old, who as bishop of Helena ordained the real-life subject of Mark Wahlberg’s 2022 film “Father Stu,” also spent most of his childhood and adolescence in Montana.

He said his world has expanded a lot since he was growing up, when it was a treat to go just 10 miles down the road from Anaconda to the hot spring pools of Fairmont to swim.

Despite his Montana upbringing, where cattle ranches cover 63% of the state’s land area, Thomas quit eating beef and pork in 1988. He said he felt good after following a no red meat diet during a visit to Asia, so he decided to keep it up.

This particular attribute of the bishop was a bit difficult for the priests of Helena, he joked.

The Archdiocese of Las Vegas serves over 620,000 Catholics and “hundreds of thousands of tourists,” according to the cathedral’s website.

There are probably an additional 200,000 Catholics who are undocumented immigrants, Archbishop Thomas pointed out.

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