Pope Leo XIV: Who is Robert Prevost, the bridge-builder chosen to lead the Catholic Church?
Robert Francis Prevost, the first US pope, has a history of serving in Peru as a missionary, and also has knowledge of the Church's inner workings.
Chicago man Leo XIV's predecessor Francis put him in charge of the powerful Dicastery for Bishops, one of the most influential in the Church, responsible for suggesting new bishops to the pontiff.
The confidence sign speaks of efficiency in the Curia and Prevost’s reputation as a moderate. His missionary work in Peru expands to the “peripheries’” far regard areas located away from Rome, Francis-dominated areas.
After being named prefect of the dicastery, one of the Vatican's most important departments, Ohio born Chiclayo-cum-Peruvian 69 years old was bestowed with cardinal dignity by Francis in 2023. This post and the rest serving him with key roles in the Church earned him ‘cardinal-beruf.
Vatican analysts considered the group of US cardinals most likely to become preost to be landing expecting a son given his metropolitan diocese outlook and shifty stance on church administration.
Due to his delicate approach, the Italian newspaper ‘La Repubblica’ labeled him as “the least American of the Americans.”
Some of his critics have claimed that his expertise with canon law terminology offers a balanced perspective to the more conservative cardinals who focus heavily on the theological aspects.
The Holy Church of Rome
After Francis passed away, Prevost noted there was ‘still so much to do’ concerning the advancements in the Holy Church.
“Indeed we can’t stop, we can’t revert. We must look forward as to how the Holy Spirit wants the Church to be today and tomorrow, because the world's environment in which the Church survives today is not the same as 10 or 20 years ago. ”
A month ago, he gave an interview to Vatican News and spoke on these matters. ‘The answer or the goal is always the same: to proclaim Jesus Christ, to proclaim the Gospel, but the methods of reaching out to the modern youth, the impoverished, even politicians, are unique. ‘
A chicago birth date was set for september 14, 1955. After attending a minor seminary of the Order of St Augustine in St Louis, he became a novice. Eventually, he graduated from an augustinian institution, Villanova University, with a degree in mathematics.
Besides achieving a master’s degree in divinity from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in 1982, he received a doctorate decree in canon law in Rome. Then in 1985 he joined the Augustinians in Peru for the first of his decade long missions in the country.
He returned to Chicago in mid-1999, after which he became the prior of the Augustinians in the US Midwest and later the order’s prior general in the whole world.
In March 2014, he again went back to Peru after 2019 when Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in northern Peru.
Roughly ten years later after that, in March 2023, Prevost was announced as head of the dicastery after Canadian Cardinal Marc Ouellet stepped down citing being of advanced age and following accusations of sexually assaulting a woman.
The Vatican later dropped the case against Ouellet for insufficient evidence.
He was also announced as that the head of the Ponitifical Commission for Latin America.
‘JD Vance is wrong’
Before US Presidents Donald Trump and JD Vance on the 7th of December exalt America’s first pope, his holiness Leo the 14th shared articles slamming them on social media for their attempt at masquerading as leaders focused on immigration – one of the several reasons he became the US pontiff.
In February, then Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost reposted on X an essay captioned “Vance is the wrong man to quote Catholic doctrine to justify the American government’s withdrawal of aid”.
Vatican confirmed on Thursday the account actually belonged to the Chicago born Prevost and wasn't irreversibly hacked. The article attacked Vance, a Catholic convert as of 2019, for defending the claim that Christians ought to love their family prior to loving the rest of the world first.
“JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” was the title of a story published by the National Catholic Reporter which Prevost shared on his account.
In his new role, Vance defended his rationale for scrapping almost all foreign aid to the U.S. by quoting the 12th century theologian Thomas Aquinas’ “ordo amoris.”
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