Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo XIV is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City. He is the first pope to have been born in the United States, the first to hold either U.S. or Peruvian citizenships, the first from the Order of Saint Augustine, and the second from the Americas.
Prevost was born in Chicago and raised in the neighboring suburb of Dolton. He became a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and was ordained as a priest in 1982. He earned a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987 from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. His service includes extensive missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s, during which he worked as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher, and administrator. Elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, he was based in Rome from 2001 to 2013, and traveled extensively as part of this work, including to the order's many provinces and missions around the world. He then returned to Peru as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome, and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Upon his return to Rome in 2023, Prevost was made a cardinal by Pope Francis.
As Cardinal, Prevost emphasized synodality, missionary dialogue, and engagement with social and technological challenges. He has also addressed issues such as climate change, global migration, church governance, and human rights, and expressed alignment with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council and the direction set for the Church by Francis.
Prevost's election in the 2025 conclave was unexpected by observers; he was a dark horse candidate, with Vatican insiders believing the prospect of a pope from the United States to be unrealistic given its status as a superpower. In honor of Pope Leo XIII, who developed modern Catholic social teaching amid the tumult of the Second Industrial Revolution, Prevost chose the papal name Leo XIV—both to echo Leo XIII's concern for workers and fairness, and as a response to the challenges of a new industrial revolution and artificial intelligence.
As pope, he has consistently opposed armed conflict and nationalism while advocating for the rights of migrants. He has introduced new warnings about the use of artificial intelligence technology. He has affirmed the teachings of his predecessors including social teachings and the climate policy of Pope Francis. He has consistently pointed to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as the "guiding star" of the Church.
Early life, family, and education (1955–1973)
Background and ancestry
Robert Francis Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, at Mercy Hospital in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, on the city's South Side. He is of French, Italian, Spanish, and Louisiana Creole descent. His father, Louis Marius Prevost, was a Chicago native, having grown up in Hyde Park. Louis's father and mother were immigrants from Italy and France, respectively. Louis Prevost was a United States Navy veteran of World War II who commanded an infantry landing craft in the Normandy landings and later participated in Operation Dragoon in southern France. An educator, he later became superintendent of Brookwood School District 167 in Glenwood, Illinois. Leo XIV's mother, Mildred Agnes Prevost, was also born in Chicago, into a mixed-race Black Creole family from Louisiana. She was also an educator, and a librarian, including at Mendel Catholic High School.Early life and schooling
Known as "Rob" to his family and "Bob" to friends as an adult, Prevost was raised in Dolton, Illinois, a suburb bordering the far South Side; his childhood home was purchased by the Village of Dolton after he became pope. He grew up in the parish of St. Mary of the Assumption in nearby Riverdale. His parents were practicing Catholics who were very involved in the parish: Louis was a catechist, a teacher of the faith; while Mildred was an active member of the Rosary and Altar Society, sang in the church choir, provided services for the church and went to daily Mass. According to Leo, what influenced him spiritually was his parents' faith, prayer life and Marian devotions and their mutual love. His mother would call him and his brothers to go to Mass before school at 6:30 a.m., and told them that Jesus "is your best friend," and Mass "a way to find that friend." Leo went to the parish Catholic school, sang in the choir, and served as an altar boy. Prevost has two older brothers, Louis Martín, and John Joseph. Prevost aspired to the priesthood from a young age, and would play-act the Mass at home with his brothers.From 1969 to 1973, Prevost attended St. Augustine Seminary High School, a minor seminary near Saugatuck, Michigan; his brother John recalled how, from the end of eighth grade on, and especially after joining the Order of Saint Augustine, until their later adulthood when leave allowed them to reconnect, Prevost was hardly at home or with their family.
At the Augustinian seminary, he earned a letter of commendation for academic excellence, consistently appeared on the honor roll, served as yearbook editor-in-chief, and was secretary of the student council and a member of the National Honor Society. He captained the bowling team and headed the speech and debate team, competing in Congressional Debate. Well-liked and highly intelligent, Prevost had a reputation for helping other students as a tutor. Out of several dozen who entered the school with him, Prevost was one of only 13 students in his class to graduate.
University, seminary, and early priesthood (1973–1998)
University
In 1973, Prevost was planning to attend Tolentine College, an Augustinian seminary in Olympia Fields, Illinois, as part of the order's pre-novitiate program, but it closed that same year. He promptly enrolled in Villanova University, an Augustinian college located near Philadelphia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 1977. At Villanova, he took elective courses in Hebrew and Latin, read the writings of Saint Augustine, and discussed the work of theologian Karl Rahner with other students. He lived in the Augustinian friary, and was remembered as "particularly committed... to missionary work," and being "the most community minded" among the students. Prevost also worked as a cemetery groundskeeper at Saint Denis Catholic Church in Havertown, Pennsylvania, while studying at Villanova.Entry into Augustinians and seminary studies
On September 1, 1977, Prevost entered the Order of Saint Augustine's novitiate in the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel. He resided for one year at Immaculate Conception Church in the Gate District neighborhood of St. Louis, Missouri. In the summer of 1978, Prevost spent three months in Clinical Pastoral Education at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. He took his first vows on September 2, 1978, and his solemn vows on August 29, 1981.He returned to his father's native Hyde Park to obtain a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in 1982 and taught physics and math at St. Rita of Cascia High School in the Wrightwood neighborhood of Chicago during his studies. As his spiritual director, a guide to the Christian life, he chose a religious sister, Sister Lyn Osiek, RSCJ, the supervisor of his theological reflection class. She described him as "calm and steady... a person who was at peace with himself."
Ordination and missionary work in Peru
On September 10, 1981, Prevost was ordained a deacon by Thomas Gumbleton at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. That same year, Prevost concluded his studies at Catholic Theological Union. Prevost was ordained a priest in Rome, at the Chapel of Saint Monica of the Augustinians by Archbishop Jean Jadot on June 19, 1982.Prevost earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984, followed by a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987, both from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. During this period, he also learned Italian. His doctoral thesis was a canon law study of the role of local priors in the Order of Saint Augustine.
"Padre Roberto" joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985, serving as chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas, as well as an aide to bishop John McNabb. Much of his work in his first year in Peru was focused on disaster relief following severe El Niño rainstorms. In 1987, after defending his doctoral thesis, he was vocation director and missions director of the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Olympia Fields, Illinois, and worked with the faculty of the Augustinian Novitiate in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, before returning to Peru in 1988. During his time in Peru, Prevost met and appreciated the Dominican priest and theologian Gustavo Gutierrez, a pioneer of liberation theology. He also learned and mastered the Spanish language during this period.
Prevost spent a decade heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, teaching canon law in the diocesan seminary, serving as prefect of studies, acting as a judge in the regional ecclesiastical court, and working in parish ministry on the city's outskirts, coming into contact with poor farmers and Peruvian indigenous peoples.
He proved successful in the Augustinians' efforts to recruit Peruvians for the priesthood and leadership positions in the order. He organized support for Venezuelan refugees to Peru despite discrimination against the Venezuelans.
During the Fujimorato era, Prevost criticized the actions of then-President Alberto Fujimori, placing special emphasis on the victims of the Peruvian Army, especially the Colina Group, during the period of terrorism in Peru, as well as on political corruption. In 2017, he criticized President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's decision to pardon Fujimori, and called upon Fujimori "to personally apologize for some of the great injustices that were committed". His years in Peru gave him personal knowledge of political violence and inequality; at times, as a missionary, he traveled by horse on difficult roads to reach the isolated communities in the valleys of Lambayeque. He also stood out as a defender of human rights of the population of the Norte Chico region against the violence of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist guerrilla organization Shining Path. However, Trujilio, the area where Prevost served, was not particularly affected by the Shining Path.