What to know about the new Catholic Pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV

 What to know about the new Catholic Pope, Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV

1) He was Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, Prevost is the first United States citizen elected as pope.

He was born to Louis and Mildred Prevost, who are of of French, Italian, and Spanish descent.

2) Prevost attended the Augustinian minor seminary in 1973 and earned a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977. He proceeded to gain a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, United States and both a Licentiate and Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Prevost entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977, taking his first vows in 1978 and solemn vows in 1981. He was ordained a priest in Rome on June 19, 1982.

3) His early career included mission work in Peru in the mid ’80s to late ’90s. Prevost also holds a Peruvian passport and has been a Peruvian citizen since 2015.

4) In 1999, Prevost was elected provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago, and from 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide Augustinian order for two six-year terms.

5) In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Prevost as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, and he was consecrated as titular bishop of Sufar on December 12, 2014. 

He became bishop of Chiclayo in 2015, serving until 2023, and also acted as apostolic administrator of Callao (2020–2021).

6) Prevost was elevated to cardinal on September 30, 2023, and in early 2025, Francis promoted him to the senior rank of cardinal-bishops.

7) Pope Francis brought Robert Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. On Thursday, he ascended to become Pope Leo XIV — the first American pontiff

He had prominence, name recogntion and influence going into the conclave that few other cardinals have.

In that job he would have kept in regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world that counts the most Catholics.

Ever since arriving in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile, but he was well known to the men in the Catholic hierarchy who count.

Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms late Pope  Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope.

8)The bells of the cathedral in Peru’s capital of Lima tolled after Prevost’s election was announced. People outside the church expressed their desire for a papal visit at one point.

“For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country,” said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez, who happened to be near the cathedral when the news was announced. “We would like him to visit us here in Peru.”

9) Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, is viewed as a centrist, who holds both liberal and conservative positions, as per reports.