Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, OSA, Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops (2023-2025) and Archbishop-Bishop Emeritus of Chiclayo, was born on September 14, 1955 in Chicago (Illinois, United States).
The youngest of three siblings, he grew up in the United States with his parents, who were very involved in parish activities. His four grandparents were immigrants from France and Spain.
In a recent interview with RAIHe recalls: “I came to know the Church through the parish experience at the local level. I also studied at a parish school. In this sense, perhaps also thanks to the closeness of some diocesan priests, the idea of the possibility of becoming a priest was born.”
Later I met my religious family, the Augustinians. After a short time of discernment to make a decision, and also after meeting other young people who had gone with the Augustinians, at the age of 14, I entered the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers.
"Before the Novitiate is the story of a young man living with other young men, getting to know himself and, as a son of Saint Augustine, getting to know others, the importance of friendship and community life. It was during those years that a certain restlessness and a desire to be a missionary was born: not to stay in my country, but to participate in some kind of activity as a priest or religious."
Leo XIV speaks about the importance of his friendship with his father for his vocation
"I remember certain moments well; I had a lot of trust in my parents. The family was and still is very close, even though my parents have already passed away."
I remember a few times when I spoke with my father, who wasn't exactly a spiritual director, but we talked about concrete things, like the doubts that can trouble a young person: "Perhaps it's better to leave this life, get married, have children... have a, let's say, normal life, like the one I knew in my family." These are very important moments of decision and discernment for a young person.
With his experience, he spoke of things like the importance of intimacy between him and my mother, and how important closeness to Christ was in the vocation to the priesthood—truly knowing Jesus, experiencing God's love in life—for all Christians. Even though I had heard it a hundred times from priests and formators, when my father told me, in a very human yet profound way, I thought: this is something I need to hear.
I reflected a lot on what he told me. It was before I went to the novitiate; in that case, I still remember where we were. We weren't at home, we weren't sitting like we are now. We talked several times; he was an educator, a teacher, he worked in schools, he had that ability to talk to me. All those things were very important.
The Church as a communion of the faithful and not just as an institution
And the interview concluded with these words: "I think that today the voice of the Church, the witness of the Church not as an institution, but as a communion of the faithful, with the martyrs, with the presence and witness of men and women who give their lives even in situations of violence, war, and conflict, is a voice that offers great hope to the world."
Not everyone is willing and open to hear the message. There is a great challenge for the Church. Too often we have allowed the Church to become merely an institution, in part or entirely: the Vatican, the Holy See. There are institutional dimensions, yes. But that is not the heart of what the Church is and should be.
In 1977, she graduated with a degree in Mathematics and studied Philosophy at Villanova University in Pennsylvania. On September 1 of that same year, at the age of 22, she entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA), in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Saint Louis.
On August 29, 1981, she made her solemn vows. She studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where she earned a diploma in theology.
At 26, he was sent by the Order to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum). He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982. He obtained his licentiate degree in 1984 and was then sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru (1985-1986).
In 1987 he earned his doctorate with the dissertation: “The Role of the Local Prior in the Order of Saint Augustine.” That same year he was elected director of vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian province “Mother of Good Counsel” in Olympia Fields, Illinois, USA.
In 1988, he was sent to the Trujillo mission as director of the joint project for the formation of Augustinian aspirants in the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac. There he served as prior of community (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998), and formator of professed friars (1992-1998). In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, he was judicial vicar (1989-1998) and professor of canon law, patristics, and moral theology at the San Carlos y San Marcelo Major Seminary.
In 1999 he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province in Chicago. Two and a half years later, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him prior general1, a position that was entrusted to him again at the Ordinary General Chapter of 2007.
In October 2013 he returned to his province (Chicago) as formator of professed members and provincial vicar, positions he held until November 3, 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of ChiclayoPeru, elevating him to the episcopal dignity and assigning him the Sufar headquarters.
On November 7, he took canonical possession of the diocese in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio, James Patrick Green; he was ordained bishop on December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the cathedral of his diocese. Leo XIV's episcopal motto was In Illo one unum ("In the one Christ we are one"), taken from Saint Augustine.
He was Bishop of Chiclayo from November 26, 2015. In March 2018 he was elected second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference.
Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and a member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020. On April 15 of that same year, the Pope appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao.
On January 30, 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
He was created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of September 30, 2023, with the Diaconate of Santa Monica.
He has been a member of the Dicasteries for: Evangelization (Section for the first evangelization and the new particular Churches), Doctrine of the Faith, Eastern Churches, Clergy, Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, Culture and Education, Legislative Texts; the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
On Thursday, May 8, 2025, at 18:07 p.m., white smoke announced to the world the election of a new successor to Peter. On the fourth ballot of the conclave, Robert Francis Prevost was elected as the 267th Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church and took the name of Leo XIVAt 7:23 p.m. Rome time, he appeared before the world from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, addressing his maiden speech and gave the Urbi et Orbi blessing.
Biography taken from: https://opusdei.org/es-ar/article/biografia-papa-leon-xiv/