Robert Prevost, the choice of Catholic cardinals in the world as the leader of the 1.4 billion member church, is the first Pope from the United States and as a relative who is unknown on the global stage.
Prevost at the age of 69 and originally from Chicago, spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and only became a cardinal in 2023. He only gave a few media interviews.
He takes the papal name Leo XIV and the successor to Pope Francis, who has run the church since 2013.
In his first words as a Pope, from the central balcony of the St. Peter basilica, Leo said: “Peace be with all of you” and spoke to a cheering amount in fluent Italian. He also spoke in Spanish during his short speech, but said nothing in English.
Leo thanked Francis in his speech and repeated the reputation of his predecessor for a church that is busy with the modern world and “is always after peace, charity and close to people, especially those who suffer”. He emphasized a message of peace, dialogue and mission evangelization.
In contrast to Francis, which spurned a large part of the traps of the papacy, Prevost wore a traditional red papal garment above his white cassock.
The National researched the life of Pope Leo XIV-a 69-year-old Cardinal, who was born in Chicago, also citizens of Peru, known for his commitment to the poor and the first American Pope in the history of the Catholic Church.
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Rev. Mark Francis, a friend of Prevost since the 1970s, told Reuters that the cardinal was a firm follower of the papacy of his predecessor and in particular the commitment of the late Pope for questions of social justice.
“He was always friendly and warm and remained a voice of common sense and the practical concerns about the public of the church to the arms,” said Francis, who visited the seminar with Prevost and later knew him when they both lived in Rome in the 2000s.
“He has an ironic sense of humor, but was not someone who searched for the spotlight,” said Francis, who heads the US province of the Viatorian religious order.
Prevost was first served as a bishop in Chiclayo in the northwest of Peru from 2015 to 2023 and became a Peruvian citizen in 2015, so that he had double nationalities.
Pope Francis brought him to Rome this year to lead the Vatican office that should act as Catholic bishops around the world for the selection of priests, which means that he had hand when choosing many bishops in the world.
While US President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance quickly congratulated the new Pope on Thursday, Prevost’s views could reconcile him with the administration.
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In February the proposal of Vances reacted that there were various hierarchies of Christian love – family, then nation, then the rest of the world – Prevost on X “Jd Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to evaluate our love for others.” He also announced an article this month that criticized the current US immigration policy.
Already in 2017, while Trump’s first term as president, he shared a post of a Jesuit priest who was critical Syrian refugees. “What an immoral nation we will be. Jesus cries,” says the post.
Prevost was dealt with in a speech published on YouTube in August 2024.
“There must be a way to solve the problem, but also treat people with respect,” he said. “Each of us – whether we were born in the United States of America or at the North Pole – we are all given that God’s image and similarity have been created. And on the day we forget that we are forgotten who we are. We forget who Christ has appointed us.”
Jesus Leon Angeles, coordinator of a Catholic group in Chiclayo, who has known Prevost since 2018, called him a “very simple” person who would make every effort to help others.
Leon Angeles said Prevost had special concern about Venezuelan migrants in Peru and said: “He is a person who likes to help.” More than 1.5 million Venezuelans have moved to Peru in recent years, partly to escape the economic crisis in their country.
Pope Leo XIV was introduced in the cheering crowds on St. Peter’s Square, but the new Pope will face several challenges, from the financial issues of the Vatican to a church that is still divided whether and how much it has to change.
In an interview in 2023 with the Vatican news agency, Prevost focused on the importance of evangelization to help the church.
“We are often busy teaching teaching … but we risk that our first task is to teach what it means to know Jesus Christ,” he said.
Prevost said during a press conference of 2023: “Our work is to enlarge the tent and let everyone know that they are welcome in the church.”
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Prevost was born in 1955 and is a member of the global Augustinian religious order, which includes around 2,500 priests and brothers, in 50 countries and focuses particularly on life in community and equality among its members.
He has a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in Philadelphia, a master from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and did her doctorate from the pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquin in Rome.
Prevost returned to Peru as a missionary in 1985 as a missionary and returned to the United States in 1999 to take on a leadership role in his religious order.
He later moved to Rome to serve as head of the Augustiner for two six years, and visited many communities of the order around the world. It is known that he speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.
When Prevost returned to Rome in 2023, Prevost generally did not take part in many social events that the Vatican officials attract all over the city.
Leon Angeles said he was a person with leadership qualities, “but at the same time he knows how to listen. He has this virtue.”
“The cardinal has the courtesy to ask an opinion, even if it comes from the simplest or most modest person,” she said.
“He knows how to listen to everyone.”
