Soft-spoken Prevost is first pope from the United States
VATICAN CITY, May 8, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Robert Francis Prevost, the first
pope from the United States, has a history of missionary work in Peru but also
a keen grasp of the inner workings of the Church.
The new Leo XIV, a Chicago native, was entrusted by his predecessor Francis
to head the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, charged with advising the pontiff
on new bishop appointments.
The sign of confidence from Francis speaks to Prevost's commitment as a
missionary in Peru to the "peripheries" -- overlooked areas far from Rome
prioritised by Francis -- and his reputation as a bridge-builder and moderate
within the Curia.
The 69-year-old Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, Peru, was made a
cardinal by Francis in 2023 after being named prefect of the dicastery, one of
the Vatican's most important departments -- and a post that introduced him to
all key players in the Church.
Vatican watchers had given Prevost the highest chances among the group of
US cardinals of being pope, given his pastoral bent, global view and ability to
navigate the central bureaucracy.
Italian newspaper La Repubblica called him "the least American of the
Americans" for his soft-spoken touch.
His strong grounding in canon law has also been seen as reassuring to more
conservative cardinals seeking a greater focus on theology.
- 'Can't turn back' -
Following Francis's death, Prevost said there was "still so much to do" in
the work of the Church.
"We can't stop, we can't turn back. We have to see how the Holy Spirit
wants the Church to be today and tomorrow, because today's world, in which the
Church lives, is not the same as the world of ten or 20 years ago," he told
Vatican News last month.
"The message is always the same: proclaim Jesus Christ, proclaim the
Gospel, but the way to reach today's people, young people, the poor,
politicians, is different," he said.
Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Prevost attended a minor seminary
of the Order of St Augustine in St Louis as a novice before graduating from
Philadelphia's Villanova University, an Augustinian institution, with a degree
in mathematics.
After receiving a masters degree in divinity from Chicago's Catholic
Theological Union in 1982, and a doctorate decree in canon law in Rome, the
polyglot joined the Augustinians in Peru in 1985 for the first of his
decade-long missions in that country.
Returning to Chicago in 1999, he was made provincial prior of the
Augustinians in the US Midwest and later the prior general of the order
throughout the world.
But he returned to Peru in 2014 when Francis appointed him as apostolic
administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in the country's north.
Nearly a decade later, Prevost's appointment in 2023 as head of the
dicastery came after Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet was accused of sexually
assaulting a woman and resigned for age reasons.
The Vatican later dropped the case against Ouellet for insufficient
evidence.
Prevost also serves as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin
America.
