PROSPECT HEIGHTS —

The world has its first American pope.

Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, is a native of Chicago who spent the first third of his life in the United States before his ministry took him to Peru and, more recently, to Rome. There, he served as the prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, advising Pope Francis on episcopal appointments around the globe.

Born on September 14, 1955, to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent, Pope Leo XIV grew up in Chicago alongside his two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. He earned a degree in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977 before entering the Order of Saint Augustine in Saint Louis, making his solemn vows in 1981. Nearly 45 years later, he has become the first Augustinian to ascend to the papacy.

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Pope Leo XIV received his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, earning a Master of Divinity. In 1982, while studying in Rome, he was ordained a priest. He went on to earn a licentiate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in 1984.

From 1985 to 1986, he worked on his doctoral thesis while serving in the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, Piura, Peru — his first ministerial experience in a country that would later become his second home. He became a naturalized citizen of Peru in 2015. After a brief return to the U.S., he rejoined the mission in Trujillo in 1988, where he spent 11 years leading the local seminary while serving in various roles, including formation director, seminary professor, judicial vicar for the Archdiocese of Trujillo, and parish administrator.

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In 1999, he returned to the U.S. after being elected provincial prior of the Augustinian Province “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago. However, in 2003 he was elected prior general of the worldwide Augustinian order, taking him back to Rome for two terms. He later returned briefly to the U.S. as director of formation for the Augustinians.

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In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, and he became bishop the following year. He served in that role until 2023 and was vice president of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference from 2018 to 2023.

Early in 2023, Pope Francis recalled him to Rome, appointing him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, also elevating him to the rank of archbishop. In September 2023, he was made a cardinal and took possession of his titular church in January. On February 6, 2025, he was promoted to the Order of Bishops and granted the title of the Suburbicarian Church of Albano.

Pope Leo XIV becomes the second consecutive pope from a religious order, following Pope Francis, who was a Jesuit. Reflecting on his Augustinian heritage in his first public remarks as pope from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica on May 8, he said: “I am a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian. He said, ‘With you I am Christian, for you a bishop.’ So may we all walk together toward that homeland that God has prepared for us.”