Fr Julian Large has been elected provost of the Brompton Oratory.
The traditionalist priest replaces Fr Ignatius Harrison in the role, with Fr George Bowen elected vice-provost.
Elections at the Kensington church, which was built in the 1870s and run by the Oratory of Saint Philip Neri community, take place every three years and the results are announced on the Feast of the Annunciation.
Fr Julian, 43, is a former gossip columnist for the Daily Telegraph, and a convert from Anglicanism.
Raised in Merseyside, Fr Julian studied at Mansfield College, Oxford, where he ran the university architectural society.