Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church. Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV.
In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization.
Here’s what else to know about the historic announcement — and what it means for the Chicago area.
News of the new pope
The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel on the second day of the conclave, the most geographically diverse in history. Priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted “Viva il papa!”
Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won and were shocked when an hour later, the senior cardinal deacon appeared on the loggia and said “Habemus Papam!” and announced the winner was Prevost.
He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English.
“Greetings … to all of you, and in particular, to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith,” he said in Spanish. Read more here.
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His Chicago roots
Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, and his Catholic roots were planted in the south suburbs, where he lived in Dolton with his parents and two brothers. He grew up in St. Mary of the Assumption parish on the Far South Side, attending school, singing in the choir and serving as an altar boy.
Prevost’s father, Louis, was an educator who led Glenwood School District 167 and served as principal of now-defunct Mount Carmel Elementary School in Chicago Heights. He died in 1997, according to his obituary.
His mother, Mildred, was a librarian who worked at Holy Name Cathedral, Von Steuben High School on the North Side and Mendel Catholic Prep. She died in 1990 after decades of service to St. Mary’s Church.
After graduating from St. Mary’s in 1969, Prevost attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan. Then he briefly lived at the now-shuttered Tolentine seminary in south suburban Olympia Fields before attending Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
John Prevost acknowledged that the role will have its challenges but said his brother is ready.
“It’s awesome, it’s a great responsibility, but he will be scrutinized left and right,” he said. “I think it will be a lot. But he has the patience of a saint.”
And most importantly, at least in terms of the new pope’s South Side credentials, John Prevost confirmed that his brother has “always” been a White Sox fan. Read more here.
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Chicago Cardinal shares his ‘once in a lifetime experience’
“Let’s be proud that Chicago produced a person of this quality that could be pope,” Cardinal Blase Cupich said during a phone interview with the Tribune Friday morning from Vatican City. “We should be very proud of that.”
The day before, Cupich witnessed history as a member of the conclave that selected Chicago-born missionary Robert Francis Prevost as the first American pope. As the archbishop of Chicago looked over the piazza, the crowd down to the Tiber River was jam-packed, with more than 250,000 people awaiting the first words of the new pope, he recalled.
“To be in that position is something that I’ll never be able to replicate in the future,” he said. “It’s a once in a lifetime experience to be on the same platform where the new pope is going to be announced with hundreds of thousands of people chanting his name.” Read more here.
Criticism of Trump and Vance
Prevost’s previous social media history includes sharing criticism of Donald Trump’s administration policies and of comments by Vice President JD Vance.
The majority of the posts on the X platform are related to or in support of Catholic news and church initiatives. He rarely writes original content, but a look back through his social media timeline shows numerous posts sharing viewpoints opposed to moves aimed at restricting acceptance of migrants and refugees in the U.S.
