Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, was elected as 267th pontiff on May 8, 2025, after the College of Cardinals met in Vatican City following the death of Pope Francis to select a new Vicar of Christ. Following a lifetime of dedication to the Catholic Church in both Chicago and Peru, Prevost was revealed as Francis' successor.
Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Pope Leo XIV is one of three siblings. His brothers are John Prevost and Louis Martin Prevost. His passion for the Catholic faith ignited at a young age, leading him to enter the seminary immediately after eighth grade. Among his interests, Pope Leo XIV is an amateur tennis player, a Chicago White Sox fan, and he obtained Peruvian citizenship in 2015.
Pope Leo XIV graduated from Villanova University in 1977, a private Catholic institution located 12 miles outside Philadelphia, and received an honorary degree from Merrimack College. Before ascending to Bishop of Rome, he joined the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine in Saint Louis in 1977, marking the beginning of his religious training before taking his holy orders. In August 1981, he gave his solemn vows, and by 1982, he was ordained as a priest. In 1985, he joined the Augustinian mission in Peru, serving as chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas for a year. Between 1987 and 1988, he returned to the U.S. to serve as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago, before returning to Peru for another decade to lead the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teach Canon Law. In 1999, he returned to Chicago and was elected provincial prior of the Mother of Good Counsel.
Pope Leo XIV caught the attention of Pope Francis, who, after becoming pope in 2013, appointed him as the administrator and eventually archbishop of Chiclayo in 2014. During his final years in Peru, Prevost served as vice-president of the permanent council of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference from 2018 to 2023, a role that likely helped him secure his position as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops under Francis. In January 2023, Pope Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a crucial role responsible for vetting bishop nominations worldwide.
Prevost was created a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023.
Pope Leo XIV was floated as a frontrunner to succeed Pope Francis after his passing on April 21, 2025, although some reports suggested that his American nationality might count against him due to concerns about the U.S. exerting geopolitical influence through the papacy. At 69, Pope Leo XIV was elected to the papal seat on the second day of the papal conclave’s deliberations at the Vatican.
