Habemus papam
Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost; 14 September 1955) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City State since 2025. He is the first American to be elected pope. He is also the seventh Augustinian pope, and the first since Eugene IV (d. 1447) to lead the Catholic Church.
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, a librarian, was of Spanish descent. Prevost has two brothers. 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, taking his first vows 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. While there, he substituted as a physics teacher occasionally at St. Rita of Cascia High School and also taught math part-time.
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 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 13 July 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 15 April 2020, he was named apostolic administrator of Callao in Peru. On November 21, 2020, Francis named him a member of the Congregation for Bishops.
Dicastery for Bishops
On 30 January 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, raising his profile ahead of any future papal conclave.
On 6 February 2025, Francis promoted Prevost to cardinal-bishop, assigning him to the Suburbicarian Diocese of Albano in the Province of Rome.
On May 8, 2026 Prevost was elected by the College of Cardinals to succeed Pope Francis.
