Robert Prevost Becomes Pope Leo XIV, the First American and Augustinian Pontiff

Even before his name was announced from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, the crowd below was already chanting “Viva il Papa” – Long live the Pope.

Robert Prevost, 69, has been chosen as the 267th successor to the throne of St. Peter and will take the name Leo XIV.

Although he is the first American to become Pope, Prevost is also closely associated with Latin America due to his extensive missionary work in Peru, where he later became a bishop.

Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian heritage, Prevost served as an altar boy before being ordained a priest in 1982. He moved to Peru in 1985 but maintained close ties to the United States, regularly returning to serve in his hometown.

Now a naturalized Peruvian citizen, Prevost is warmly remembered for his outreach to marginalized communities and his efforts to build bridges across cultural and social divides.

He spent a decade serving as a parish priest and seminary professor in Trujillo, in northern Peru.

In his first public address as Pope Leo XIV, he paid tribute to his predecessor, Pope Francis.

“We still hear in our ears the weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis, who blessed us,” he said. “United and hand in hand with God, let us advance together,” he told the jubilant crowd.

Leo XIV also referenced his time with the Augustinian Order, having first arrived in Peru at the age of 30 as part of an Augustinian mission.

Pope Francis appointed him Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru a year after his own election. Prevost later rose to prominence as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Latin America, a key role responsible for selecting and overseeing bishops. He was elevated to archbishop in January 2023 and made a cardinal shortly thereafter.

Given that around 80% of the cardinals who participated in the conclave were appointed by Francis, Prevost’s election was not unexpected, even though he was relatively new to the College of Cardinals.

He is widely seen as a proponent of continuing Pope Francis’ reforms within the Catholic Church. Prevost shares Francis’ views on migrants, the poor, and environmental issues.

While American, his deep ties to Latin America symbolize continuity with the legacy of Pope Francis, who hailed from Argentina.

The Vatican has described Leo XIV as both the second pope from the Americas, following Francis, and the first from the Augustinian Order.

While serving in Peru, Prevost was not untouched by the Church’s sexual abuse crisis, though his diocese firmly denied any involvement in covering up allegations.

Prior to the conclave, Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said that the College of Cardinals had expressed a desire for a pontiff with “a prophetic spirit capable of leading a Church that does not close in on itself but knows how to go out and bring light to a world marked by despair.”