The Latin Way of Leo XIV, the First American Elected Pope

This Thursday, May 8, at 12:07 p.m. (Chilean time), the white smoke announced the long-awaited news: the 133 cardinals gathered in conclave since Wednesday the 7th had elected the 267th Successor of Peter, following the third ballot of the day. An hour after the white smoke appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, Cardinal Dominique Mamberti announced the name of Francis I's successor: Pope Leo XIV. 

Born in Chicago, United States, in 1955, Robert Francis Prevost became the first North American Pope and a member of the Augustinian Congregation. 

After being announced, Pope Leo XIV, 69, stepped onto the balcony and delivered his first address to the approximately 20,000 people gathered in St. Peter's Square, waving flags worldwide. Visibly moved, he said in Italian: "Dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the risen Christ. I would like to offer a greeting of peace to your families, to all of you, wherever you may be. May peace be with you," he said. 

"Humanity needs Christ as a bridge to be reached by God and his love. Help us, and help each other, to build bridges." - Pope Leo XIV.

Leo XIV paid tribute to Pope Francis, who died on April 21, by affirming his desire to bless the people, just as his predecessor did during his final appearance in St. Peter's Square on Easter Sunday. The former Pontiff created him a Cardinal in 2023.  

Following his opening remarks to the crowd, Prevost remarked: "Humanity needs Christ as a bridge to be reached by God and his love. Help us, and help each other, to build bridges." He then took a few seconds to offer a greeting in Spanish, thanking his former diocese in Peru, "where a loyal people have shared their faith and given so much," he proclaimed. 

UC Chile President Juan Carlos de la Llera stated that the news of his election was received with great joy and inspires us to continue contributing to a more just and fraternal society: "In turbulent times of social fragmentation and accelerated transformation, your humility as a missionary in a sister country represents a profound invitation to unite in what is essential: human dignity, dialogue, and encounter. As a university that lives its public vocation through faith and reason, we feel renewed by the call to contribute to a more just, fraternal, and conscious society." 

"As a university that lives its public vocation through faith and reason, we feel a renewed calling to contribute to a more just, fraternal, and conscious society" - Juan Carlos de la Llera, UC Chile President. 

From Chicago to Chiclayo 

Born in Chicago, Illinois, Prevost has held Peruvian nationality since 2015. He spent much of his religious life in the Andean country from 1985, when he served as Bishop of Chiclayo, until 2023. 

"He is an American priest but has spent much of his pastoral life in Peru. This will open up an interesting horizon for American Catholicism, and at the same time, with one foot in Latin America and, therefore, a very keen awareness of the needs of other churches worldwide," said Fernando Berríos, dean of the UC Chile Faculty of Theology.

Robert Prevost was a member of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference (CEP) from 2018 to 2023, serving as second vice president and apostolic administrator of Callao from 2020 to 2021. Until now, he has been president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Pope Francis, to whom he was very close, brought him to Rome to lead the Dicastery for Bishops from 2023. 

The son of Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent, Prevost has two siblings. He studied first at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in Mathematics and studied Philosophy in 1977. On September 1 of that same year, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine of St. Louis. On August 29, 1981, he took his solemn vows. He received his formation at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, earning a degree in Theology. At the age of 27, his superiors sent him to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). He was ordained a priest in the city on June 19, 1982, at the Augustinian College of Santa Monica.

On November 3, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Peruvian diocese of Chiclayo. The following year, he appointed him bishop, and in March 2018, he was elected second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. In April 2020, he was appointed apostolic administrator of the Peruvian diocese of Callao.  

"He will open up an interesting horizon for American Catholicism, while at the same time, with a foothold in Latin America and, therefore, with an extreme sensitivity to the needs of other churches around the world," - Fernando Berríos, dean of the UC Chile Faculty of Theology. 

Felipe Olavarría, deputy director of Academics at the Office of Campus Ministry & Christian Culture of UC Chile, recalled meeting the new Pope. "He visited Chile many times, and on some of those occasions, we exchanged a few words and greeted each other. I am very impressed because he is someone I once saw and greeted." He added, "Fraternal life is very important to him: being all with one soul and one heart oriented toward God. This is something that will likely mark his pontificate." 

On January 30, 2023, the Pope called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, promoting him to archbishop. In the Consistory of September 30 of the same year, he created a cardinal, assigning him the diaconate of Saint Monica. Prevost took office on January 28, 2024, and he participated in Pope Francis's final apostolic journeys at the head of the dicastery. 

"Leo": A Name for Peace 

When a conclave elects which cardinal will be proclaimed Pope, another big choice comes next: What name will the new Pontiff be known by? In the case of Robert Prevost, he chose to be known as "Leo XIV." 

This decision could signal his goals for the Church, recalling the last pope to use this name, Leo XIII. He served in this office from 1878 to 1903 and is especially remembered for his encyclical Rerum Novarum (translated from Latin as "On New Things" or "On Revolutionary Changes"). 

"The first thing I highlight about the new Pontiff is his name, Leo. The last Pope with that name was the extraordinary Leo XIII, the great Pope of the Church's social doctrine. Perhaps there is a clue as to what the new Pope wants to follow," said Priest Osvaldo Fernández de Castro, Vice Chancellor of the UC Chile. 

"The last Pope with that name was the extraordinary Leo XIII, the great Pope of the Church's social doctrine. Perhaps there is a clue as to what the new Pope wants to follow." – Osvaldo Fernández de Castro, Vice Chancellor of the UC Chile.  

Published in 1891, this encyclical is considered a fundamental document, marking the beginning of the Catholic Church's social doctrine. At the time, that pontificate had a profound effect on the Catholic Church, its hierarchy, and the modern world, serving as a guide for facing the changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution.