Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost elected first American pope, becomes Pope Leo XIV
Never in the history of the Roman Catholic Church has there been an American pope, until now. Cardinal Robert Prevost is originally from Chicago, and serves as the head of the church’s Dicastery for Bishops.
The powerful position means he oversees the selection of new bishops.
He was elected to be the successor to Pope Francis by the College of Cardinals Thursday, May 8, 2025. He has chosen the papal name Pope Leo XIV.
Prevost is seen as a progressive on many social issues, but conservative on church doctrine; he opposes ordaining women as deacons, for example. Overall, many view him as a centrist.
Like Pope Francis, Prevost spent time embracing marginalized groups such as the poor.
Francis was the first pope to come from the Americas; Prevost is the first from the United States.
Prevost has spent much of his time serving in Peru, and holds nationality in both the U.S. and Peru.
Father Mark R. Francis, CSV, provincial of the Viatorians in the United States, studied with Cardinal Prevost and said his work in Latin America for many years would play a large role in the cardinals’ decision.
Francis and Prevost were seminary classmates at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago from 1978 until 1982. They also both worked in Rome in the early 2000s.
“My experience of Cardinal Prevost was that he’s not a showboat,” said Fr. Francis. “He’s very calm, but extremely intelligent, and extremely compassionate.”
Fr. Francis was asked what his hope is for the next pope, whoever he may be.
“I think coming together as a Christian community, that we’re able to read the signs of the times and figure out what we need to do as a church,” Francis said. “He’s a person who’s very sensitive, and is concerned to allow everyone to have a voice.”
Would a Prevost papacy look similar to that of Pope Francis?
“It would be similar in terms of basic goals, I think,” said Francis. “The kind of style he would bring to the papacy would be calm, steady, very direct kind of guidance.”
Right now, Prevost lives in Rome, overseeing the election of new bishops all over the world.
As an American, his election as pope was a historic surprise.
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