The Augustinian from Chicago has spent much of his time in Latin America.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was elected pope on May 8, becoming Pope Leo XIV.
The Chicago-born prelate is the first American to be raised to the highest position in the Catholic Church.
He began his pastoral career as an Augustinian missionary in 1985 and served communities in South America for more than a decade, working in the Peruvian cities of Chulucanas and Trujillo.
He was ordained bishop in 2014 and appointed to the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2015.
He was appointed prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops—the Vatican office that assigns bishops around the world—by Pope Francis in January 2023. He was made a cardinal in September 2023.
As it is customary for every cardinal to have a titular parish in Rome, he took charge of the church of Saint Monica in January 2024.
Born and Raised in America
Leo is from Chicago and has deep ties to the city.
He was born on Sept. 14, 1955, to Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martinez Prevost. His father is of French and Italian descent, and his mother is of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis and John.
For high school, he attended the minor seminary of the Augustinian fathers, which prepares young men for the priesthood, and he graduated in 1973.
After high school, Leo moved to Pennsylvania for undergraduate studies at Villanova University. He graduated in 1977 with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and also studied philosophy at the university.
After Villanova, Leo returned to the Midwest to complete his novitiate—a period before ordination to acquaint trainees with religious life.
He then returned to Chicago for graduate school, attending the Catholic Theological Union and receiving a Master of Divinity degree in 1982 at the age of 27.
In 1982, Leo left Chicago for Rome. He was ordained as a priest in 1982 and received a licentiate in 1984 and a Doctorate of Canon Law in 1997, both from the Angelicum—the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas.
After his ordination, Leo returned several times to the Chicago area, in between years of pastoral service in Peru.
Upon receiving his doctorate, he was sent back to Olympia Fields, Illinois—a suburb of Chicago—to serve as missions director for the Augustinian order’s Midwest province. He spent one year in the role before returning to Peru.
By T.J. Muscaro, Stacy Robinson and Arjun Singh
