Robert Francis Prevost – who chose Pope Leo XIV – may not be a wild card for the Latin American Jesuits, where his predecessor, Pope Francis, was, but his elections are equally historic, The Guardian reported.
In the figure of the 69-year-old former director of the Augustine Order, the Roman Catholic Church has the very first American leader. Until Thursday evening, the idea that a fisherman’s ring had slipped into North American hands was considered a rather distant possibility. The Vatican’s longstanding opposition to the US pope comes from the optics of having a pope from a political superpower and a nation with such hegemonic cultural and secular global influences.
But it all changed after a short conclave that chose a man who had been cardinal for just a little over two years. His appointment is likely to be welcomed by progressive factions within the church, but it was probably not the news that some of his more conservative and Trump-lined US brother Cardinals wanted.
Despite being born in Chicago on September 14, 1955, Prevost was not a typical American Catholic clergy. After taking a strict vow in 1981 and studying in Rome, he was sent to a mission in Peru. He spent many years there as a judicial pastor, Canon, professor of patriotism and moral law at the seminary in Trujillo, Peru, before being appointed bishop of another northern city of Chiclayo in November 2014.
People who know him in Peru – the church has often been troubled by tensions between leftists of liberation theology and Uber and traditionalist Catholics, but recalls a calm, grounded leader sitting at breakfast with fellow priests after morning prayers.
“No matter how many problems he has, he maintains good humor and joy,” Pastor Fidel Purisaca Vigil, communications director for the old parish of Prevost, Chiclayo, told The Associated Press.
As Crux’s recent profile pointed out, Prevost has gained a reputation for being a diligent and “mineralizing effect” among Peruvian ideologically different bishops over the years.
In January 2023, Francis had to manage competing theological strains as the turbulent, violent and oppressive leader of the Argentine Jesuits of the 1970s – became a cardinal.
Until Thursday evening, Prevost’s most well-known Vatican role was president of the Pontifical Commission in Latin America and as the bishop’s chief of bishops who oversees the selection of new bishops from around the world.
His strong connection with Latin America, combined with his more recent role at the top of the church, is why he loves him to those who normally don’t make him look like our Pope’s idea.
Prevost’s recent CV has also revealed his proximity to Francis, and he will undoubtedly be considered by many as a surprise continuance candidate.
Donald Trump, who welcomed the appointment, calling the arrival of the first US Pope “a great honor for our country,” rarely saw the eyes of Francis. The late Pope was straightforward in his criticism of Trump’s borders and immigration policies – especially his desire to wall-wall Mexico.
“People who only think about building walls are not Christians wherever they are,” Francis said in February 2016. “This is not the gospel.”
The dull responsibilities didn’t land well with Trump. “It is dishonorable for religious leaders to doubt a person’s faith,” he responded. “Leaders, especially religious leaders, have no right to question the religion or faith of others.”
Whether Trump is looking forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV – “It will be a very meaningful moment!” – depends on the extent to which the new Bishop of Rome emulates his predecessor.
Towards the beginning of his widely praised Pope, Francis argued that the Church is not far from its relationship with the world, and should not be spinned or satisfied.
“‘Mere management’ is no longer sufficient,” he wrote. “Around the world, we will be “a state of mission forever.” Francis declared that the church he led for 12 years would be “Todos, Todos, Todos” (everyone, everyone, everyone). He also said he liked the church. “I’m hurt, hurt, dirty because I was on the streets, not on the unhealthy church because I was trapped and stuck to my own safety,” he said.
Over a decade, the streets from Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan and Kashmir have become bloody and violent. When he spoke to the world from the loggia at St. Peter’s Cathedral on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV’s first words were “peace with you.”
His subsequent message, highlighting the importance of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization, is worthy of a former leader of auxiliary orders dedicated to poverty, service and pastoral work. But in his plea to “come into your heart, and to reach your family and all people, wherever you are,” there was perhaps more than a trace of his beloved, very incredible predecessor.