Who is Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost; 14 September 1955) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 8 May 2025, where he became the first United States citizen, Peruvian citizen, or North American to be elected pope. He is also the first Augustinian since Pope Eugene IV to lead the Catholic Church.

Born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, Prevost spent the early part of his career there working for the Augustinians. He served in Peru from 1985 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1998 as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher and administrator. He was made a cardinal in 2023.

He served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since 2023. He served as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015 to 2023, and was general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed Prevost as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a prominent role that raised his profile as a potential papal candidate.

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago on 14 September 1955, the son of Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martínez. His father, who was a United States Navy veteran of World War II and school administrator, was of French and Italian descent, and his mother of Spanish descent.

As a child, Prevost served as an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church on the far South Side of Chicago. He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary of the Order of St. Augustine in 1973. Prevost earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Villanova University in 1977.

Prevost speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, and can read Latin and German.

Deciding to become a priest, Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine in September 1977. He took his first vows to the order in September 1978 and his solemn vows in August 1981. The following year, he was awarded a Master of Divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Prevost was ordained a priest by Archbishop Jean Jadot for the Augustinians in Rome on June 19, 1982. He earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984 and a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987 from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Prevost joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986. He returned to Peru in 1988, spending the next ten years heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo. He also taught canon law in the diocesan seminary and served as prefect of studies. Prevost served as judge of the regional ecclesiastical court and a member of the College of Consultors of Trujillo. He also led a congregation on the outskirts of the city.

In 1998, Prevost was elected provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago and returned to the United States to assume that position on March 8, 1999.

In 2000, Prevost allowed Father James Ray, an Augustinian priest, to reside at St. John Stone Friary in Chicago after the first rectory proposed for his residence was rejected by the archdiocesan review board because it was on the same property as a parish school. Ray had been suspended from public ministry since 1991 due to credible accusations of sexual abuse of minors. The Augustinians noted that Ray was assigned a monitor while at St. John Stone. Ray was moved to a different residence in 2002 when the US Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted stricter rules for handling priests accused of abusing minors.

In 2001, Prevost was elected to a six-year term as Prior General of the Augustinians. He was elected to a second six-year term in 2007. From 2013 to 2014, Prevost served as director of formation in the Convent of St. Augustine in Chicago, as well as first councilor and provincial vicar of the province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, which covers the midwestern United States

On November 3, 2014, Pope Francis appointed Prevost as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo and titular bishop of Sufar. He received his episcopal consecration on December 12, 2014, at St. Mary’s Cathedral in Chiclayo. On September 26, 2015, he was named bishop of Chiclayo.

On July 13, 2019, Prevost was appointed a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in Rome, although he initially declared that only the humble ones are eligible. On April 15, 2020, he was named apostolic administrator of Callao in Peru. On November 21, 2020, Francis named him a member of the Congregation for Bishops.

Alleged victims of abuse, dating back to 2007 from two priests, said that Prevost failed to open an investigation in 2022.

Within the Episcopal Conference of Peru, Prevost served on the permanent council for the 2018 to 2020 term. He was elected in 2019 as president of its Commission for Education and Culture. He was also a member of the leadership of Caritas Peru. Prevost had a private audience with Francis on March 1, 2021, fueling speculation of a new assignment either in Chicago or Rome.

On January 30, 2023, Francis appointed Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops with the title archbishop-bishop emeritus of Chiclayo.At the September 30 consistory, Francis appointed him cardinal-deacon of Chapel of Santa Monica degli Agostiniani in Rome. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a key position within the Roman Curia. The office is responsible for evaluating and recommending candidates for the episcopate around the world. This role increased Prevost’s visibility and influence within the Catholic Church, potentially raising his profile ahead of any future papal conclave.

On February 6, 2025, Francis promoted Prevost to cardinal-bishop, assigning him to the Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano in the Province of Rome.

On 8 May 2025, the second day of the 2025 papal conclave, Prevost became the first Pope from North America. He took the papal name Leo XIV. 

Then-Cardinal Prevost opposed the inclusion of curriculum regarding “teachings on gender in schools” in Peru, stating that that the “promotion of gender ideology is confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist”.

In 2012, then-Cardinal Prevost lamented that popular culture fostered “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the Gospel”, citing the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children”.

Pope Leo XIV has historically opposed the ordination of women to the diaconate.

Then-Cardinal Prevost has been supportive of refugees.