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Robert Francis Prevost: the moderate, good humoured first American pope
Sam Jones
Robert Francis Prevost – who has chosen the papal name Leo XIV – may not be the Latin American Jesuit wildcard that his predecessor, Pope Francis, was, but his election is similarly historic.
In the figure of the 69-year-old former head of the Augustinian order, the Roman Catholic church has its very first US leader.
Until Thursday evening, the idea of the fisherman’s ring being slipped on to a North American hand was seen as a fairly distant possibility.
The Vatican’s longstanding opposition to a US pope stemmed largely from the optics of having a pontiff from a political superpower and a country with such a hegemonic cultural and secular global influence.
But all that changed after a short conclave that chose a man who had been a cardinal for only a little more than two years.
While his appointment is likely to be welcomed by progressive factions within the church, it was probably not the news that some of his more conservative, Trump-aligned US brother cardinals had been hoping for.
Read the full profile: Robert Francis Prevost: the moderate, good humoured first American pope
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Stephen Cottrell, the archbishop of York and acting head of the Church of England, has said Anglicans “share in the great joy of our Roman Catholic sisters and brothers” in welcoming Pope Leo as “the Bishop of Rome”. He continued:
Pope Leo XIV’s many years of pastoral experience, his commitment to justice, and his deep spirituality are an example of life lived in service to Jesus Christ.
As Anglicans, we give thanks for his call to Christians to be bridge-builders across the divisions of our world, and the divisions that continue to exist between churches. This is something Jesus asks of us. He prays that the church will be one.
Leo XIV is expected to hols his first mass as pope at the Sistine Chapel on Friday morning at 11am (0900 GMT), according to Vatican News.
It will be a private mass with his cardinals but will be broadcast live and in it he will give his much anticipated first homily as pope, which Catholics hope will give an indication of the kind of leader he will be.
A few pictures are coming in now from Chiclayo, the Peruvian city where Prevost was bishop until 2023 when he was called to Rome by Pope Francis. Locals have been attending mass at Saint Mary’s cathedral in Chiclayo:
Friends of the new pope have also been speaking to US media. Father Mark Francis, who attended the same seminary as Pope Leo XIV in the 1970s, said Leo wasn’t “a showboat kind of person” and that he had never mentioned wanting to become pope. He told CNN:
He is a calm person who is not a careerist, is not just seeking a promotion – but someone who’s there to serve.
He said the Chicago church was “forward-looking” and had a strong desire for more women to be involved in the church.
I think that is a hallmark of my ministry, and I also believe of Pope Leo’s ministry as well: a respect for women and a respect for their voice.
However, as we reported earlier, Leo does not support the ordination of women.
Rev John Lydon, who was an undergraduate with Leo at Villanova, warned Americans against thinking of him as an American pope. He told CNN:
There’s a way of thinking that’s not the same way of thinking in other parts of the world, so that’s one thing I caution Americans to think: He’s not an American pope, he’s a pope who happened to be born in the United States.
Peggy Wurtz, who went to school with the new pope, told the broadcaster his family had always been pious. She added:
He was super smart and super quiet. There isn’t a bad thing you can say about him. He is pure, pure, this guy was destined to be pope.
Here’s a bit more from Pope Leo’s brother, John Prevost, who has been speaking to the New York Times as he does the media rounds.
John says his brother is “middle of the road” and that “I don’t think we’ll see extremes either way.” However he also said that the new pope would not be afraid to speak out and that he was currently unhappy with “what’s going on with immigration”. He said:
I don’t think he’ll stay quiet for too long if he has something to say … I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with immigration. I know that for a fact.
How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.
Watch Americans react to the naming of the new pope:
Taiwan has congratulated the new pope.
AFP reports that President Lai Ching-te has sent his congratulations to Pope Leo on his appointment, saying Taiwan hopes to continue working with the Vatican to pursue peace, justice and religious freedom.
The Vatican is one of only 12 countries to retain formal diplomatic ties with Chinese-claimed Taiwan, though Lai did not attend Pope Francis’ funeral last month, sending instead former vice president Chen Chien-jen, a devout Catholic.
Francis had led a wide-ranging outreach to officially atheist China, including signing a deal on the appointment of Catholic bishops in that country, worrying Taiwan.
Taiwan’s foreign ministry said in a statement that Lai had sent his congratulatory message via its embassy to the Vatican.
Lai “stressed that Taiwan looks forward to continuing to work with the Holy See to jointly pursue peace, justice, religious freedom, solidarity, fraternity, and human dignity”, the statement said.
“Taiwan will continue to promote various exchanges and co-operation with the Holy See, to further strengthen bilateral relations, and to make more contributions to the world together with the Holy See,” said the ministry statement.
The foreign ministry did not say whether Lai might attend Leo’s inauguration. In 2013, then-president Ma Ying-jeou went to Francis’ inauguration.
Helen Davidson in Taipei has written about how the inauguration could risk raising tensions between China and Taiwan:
The Chicago White Sox have welcomed the news that one of their fans has been elected pope, writing in a post on X “Well, would you look at that... Congratulations to Chicago’s own Pope Leo XIV.”
They also posted a clip of Leo’s brother, John Prevost, saying “Yeah he was never, ever a Cubs fan so I don’t know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan.”
Petra Stock
Australian Catholics and politicians have embraced the appointment of the new pope, Leo XIV, with many hoping he will continue his predecessor’s emphasis on peace and social justice.
Archbishop Timothy Costelloe, the president of the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference, offered Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost – now known as Pope Leo XIV – heartfelt congratulations on behalf of the Roman Catholic church in Australia.
“The Catholic Church in Australia assures Pope Leo XIV of our prayers, loyalty, and joyful anticipation of his spiritual leadership,” he said. “May his pontificate be marked by peace, unity, and a deepening of the Gospel message throughout the world.”
Brother Mark O’Connor, head of communications for the Catholic archdiocese of Parramatta, told Radio he had met the new pope, describing him as a “humble, gentle leader”.
“He’s not different from Pope Francis in terms of vision, but maybe in style,” he said. “He’s more low key.”
He said Leo XIV had been to Australia and was not a fan of Vegemite but did like Tim Tams.
As white smoke billowed from the Vatican in Rome, yellow papal flags whipped in the crisp Lake Michigan breeze in front of Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy on Chicago’s North Side.
Screams of “Habemus Papam!” echoed throughout the cafeteria at the Catholic school on Thursday afternoon, when news broke that Chicago’s Robert Prevost had become Pope Leo XIV.
Prevost was born on Chicago’s South Side and attended Catholic school at St Mary of the Assumption, a now defunct parish on the city’s far south-east side. Prevost studied divinity at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, and taught at a local Catholic high school, the Chicago Sun-Times reported.
Despite spending his formative years in Peru, where he worked as a missionary and later archbishop of Chiclayo, Chicagoans celebrated their native son at churches and schools around the city.
Seventh-grader Vincent Wall and eighth-grader Ava Broz were in the cafeteria at Mount Carmel, where students were waving US and city of Chicago flags.
“It really feels like a 2016 Cubs World Series,” said Wall, referring to the baseball team that endured a long drought before a triumphant victory in 2016. “It’s just like, a pope from Chicago is just global, and so is the World Series. It’s crazy.”
The Peruvian national football team, La Bicolor, has released a picture of its football strip with a tribute to the new pope. The name on the shirt reads “Léon” over the number 14, while the caption reads “A new leader in hope …. and his heart is Peruvian.”
Louis Prevost, the eldest of the three Prevost brothers, said he had been in bed feeling ill when the news came that his brother had been elected pope. He told ABC News:
My wife called to tell me there’s white smoke from the chapel … They started reading his name, and when he went, ‘blah, blah, blah, Roberto,’ immediately I knew – that’s Rob … I was just thankful I was still in bed lying down, because I might have fallen down.
Louis said he got out of bed and started “dancing around like an idiot.”
He said the new Pope Leo was “down to earth”, “smart as a whip” and had a good sense of humour. His brother had loved his work as a missionary, he said, and had travelled the world through his work. Louis continued:
I thought I had done travelling in the Navy, but, my God, he blew me away.
Pope Leo’s older brother, John Prevost, has told US media that as a child his sibling “played priest” and “the ironing board was the altar.” He had always wanted to be a priest, John told ABC News.
He knew right away. I don’t think he’s ever questioned it. I don’t think he’s ever thought of anything else.
Leo is a Chicago White Sox fan, his brother added, “a regular, run-of-the-mill person.”
The new Pope Leo said in 2023 that he was opposed to the ordination of women, arguing that “clericalizing women” would not solve problems in the Catholic Church and might create new ones, according to the Catholic news agency.
Asked about the possibility at a synod, the then-cardinal Robert Prevost told reporters:
The apostolic tradition is something that has been spelled out very clearly, especially if you want to talk about the question of women’s ordination to the priesthood ...
Something that needs to be said also is that ordaining women – and there’s been some women that have said this interestingly enough – ‘clericalizing women’ doesn’t necessarily solve a problem, it might make a new problem.
He said that although women might become political leaders there was “no immediate parallel” in the Church and added:
Perhaps we need to look at a new understanding or different understanding of both leadership, power, authority, and service – above all service – in the Church from the different perspectives that can be, if you will, brought to the life of the Church by women and men.
Despite appointing women to top Vatican roles, Pope Francis was also opposed to the ordination of women.
