VATICAN CITY (RNS) — For the second conclave in a row, the School of Cardinals shocked the watching world with its selection for the following pope. U.S. Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was a long-shot favourite, exactly as a result of he was American — standard knowledge being {that a} pope shouldn’t be drawn from a worldwide superpower. However on Thursday (Might 8), the smiling man who emerged from behind the purple curtains in St. Peter’s loggia was a Chicago-born, Peruvian missionary — and the youngest man to don the white zucchetto in almost 50 years.
However who’s Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, and what would possibly we count on from his papacy?
1. Prevost is American — and Peruvian.
Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born and raised in Chicago’s south suburbs, attending the (now closed) Church of St. Mary of the Assumption. His father, Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, was a World Warfare II veteran and faculty administrator. His mom, Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent, was a librarian. He has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. After learning math and philosophy at Villanova, he returned to Chicago to attend the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, on Chicago’s South Aspect, from 1978 to 1982, in response to CBS Chicago.
However Prevost can also be arguably the least American of the American cardinals. He left the U.S to function a missionary in Chulucanas, Peru, shortly after his ordination till 1986. In 1988, he led the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, Peru, the place he held a number of necessary posts and taught canon legislation. He turned a Peruvian citizen in 2015, after Francis appointed him to steer the Diocese of Chiclayo. He’s a fluent Spanish speaker and issued a greeting to his diocese in Spanish after turning into pope.
Along with Spanish and English, Prevost additionally speaks Italian, French and Portuguese and might learn Latin and German.
2. Prevost is a member of the Order of St. Augustine, having served twice as its head.
Leo is a member of the Order of St. Augustine, the one Augustinian on this conclave. The order, based in 1244 beneath Pope Harmless IV, follows a rule of life that emphasizes communal dwelling, prayer, fasting and modest dwelling. Augustinians are additionally recognized for evangelizing the New World and the Philippines.
Prevost joined the order in 1977 and have become the chief of the Augustinian of Our Mom of Good Council in Chicago, overseeing the order within the Midwest. In 2001, he was chosen to develop into the top of the worldwide Augustinian order, a place he held for 2 consecutive phrases till 2013, touring to the 47 international locations the place the Augustinians are current. All through his management within the order, he positioned a particular emphasis on missionary work, particularly in Latin America. He later continued to have an necessary position within the order, proving his management and administration skills.
Cardinal Robert Prevost, middle, holds up the Villanova V with others after a Mass at St. Peter’s crypt for Villanova college students visiting Rome in October 2024. (Photograph courtesy of Jaisy Joseph)
3. As head of the Dicastery for Bishops, Prevost might have performed a task in sidelining a distinguished right-wing American bishop.
Francis tapped then-Cardinal Prevost to take over the Vatican’s oversight of the appointment of bishops in January 2023. On this influential place, he assisted in choosing the bishops to be positioned around the globe. He additionally aided Francis in coping with rogue or misbehaving bishops, together with Bishop Joseph Strickland, who was faraway from his Diocese of Tyler, Texas, after Strickland’s sharp criticism of Francis’ preach. Prevost introduced on three ladies in 2022 to help him within the collection of bishops, a primary within the division’s historical past.
4. On hot-button points, together with LGBTQ inclusion and ladies’s ordination, Prevost has stored a low profile.
Prevost was comparatively mum on the very points about which many Vatican watchers are eager to know his stance. He gave a number of nods in his greeting Thursday that signaled his papacy could also be a continuation of his predecessor’s. He named synodality, dialogue and bridge-building as priorities, along with peace, however broke with Francis by reviving the custom of sporting a mixture of purple and white, along with a burgundy stole — Francis, who emerged in solely white, was recognized for his flip towards a extra modest papacy.
Hypothesis abounds as to how the primary American pope will work together with President Donald Trump and his administration, together with the Catholic Vice President JD Vance. There are X posts attributed to Prevost circling the web, during which the then-cardinal was essential of each.
5. With the title Leo XIV, Prevost inherits a legacy of reform and social justice.
Leo has been a comparatively standard title for popes — the fourth most, actually. Prevost’s most up-to-date predecessor, Pope Leo XIII, who reigned from 1878 to 1903, is typically known as the primary fashionable pope, overseeing a church that was responding to a time of fast industrialization and globalization. Leo XIII printed the encyclical “Rerum Novarum” (On New Issues) in 1891, which promoted the rights of staff and the necessity to combat injustice and assist the poor.
