The new Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, at the Vatican, on May 8, 2025. (Credit: Stoyan Nenov/REUTERS)
American Robert Francis Prevost, 69, became Thursday the first pope originating from the United States in history. He is said to be a man of listening and synthesis, classified among the moderates, knowledgeable of both the field and the workings of the Vatican.
A bishop “should not be a little prince sitting on his realm, he should be close to the people he serves and walk with them, suffer with them,” he stated in 2024 to the website Vatican News.
Created a cardinal in 2023 by Francis, who elevated him within the Vatican, he was a member of seven dicasteries (the equivalent of ministries in the Vatican) before his election. Robert Francis Prevost notably headed the powerful dicastery for bishops, making him an advisor to the previous pope on prelates' appointments.
Francis is said to have particularly appreciated this man often described as discreet and reserved, who immersed himself for years in the “peripheries,” those territories far or neglected by the Church until then.
Born in Chicago, Bishop Prevost spent a total of two decades in Peru, where he conducted missionary work and became the archbishop-emeritus of Chiclayo in the north of the country. But he also has a reputation within the Curia, the government of the Vatican, as a moderate capable of reconciling divergent points of view.
Vaticanists had made him their favorite among American cardinals ahead of the election, based on his field experience, global vision, and ability to navigate the Vatican bureaucracy.
“The least American of Americans”
The Italian daily La Repubblica described him as “the least American of Americans” due to his moderate tone. His deep knowledge of canon law also made him comforting in the eyes of conservative cardinals aspiring for greater attention to theology.
After the death of Francis, he stated that there was “still much to do” within the Church. “We cannot stop, we cannot go back. We must see what the Holy Spirit wants for the Church today and tomorrow, because the world today, in which the Church lives, is not the same as the world of ten or twenty years ago,” he affirmed in April. “The message is always the same (...) but the way to reach people today, the youth, the poor, the politicians, is different,” he estimated.
Born on Sept. 14, 1955, Bishop Prevost studied at the minor seminary of the Order of Saint Augustine, which he joined in 1977. A graduate in theology, he also holds a degree in mathematics. Ordained a priest in 1982, he was sent as a missionary to Peru two years later, a country where he would stay for many years. He returned to Chicago in 1999 as provincial superior of the Augustinians of the Midwest, then general prior in 2001.
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo in the north of Peru.
Bishop Prevost was appointed in 2023 as prefect of the powerful dicastery for bishops, one of the most important functions in the Vatican government. In this strategic position, he succeeded the Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet, accused of sexual assault, who had resigned due to age.
Bishop Prevost is also president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.