Popular Kerry priest Fr Tom recalls his Peruvian connections to the new Pope
While Fr Looney had left Peru before Fr Prevost arrived, they both worked in similar locations throughout their time in the South American nation and for both it had a lasting impact.
Fr Looney feels the poverty witnessed by Pope Leo XIV in Peru will influence his tenure as head of the Catholic Church.
He said Robert Prevost was very much trusted in crisis-torn Peru given he was Archbishop and a key leader of the Peruvian church there.
There was also much political strife in the country throughout his tenure in South America and this experience will stand to him in today's world.
"He is man of peace and unity.'
"I didn't know him personally. I would have left Peru before he was ordained but I know him through his colleagues.'
Cardinal Prevost spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and became a cardinal only in 2023.
During his time in Peru he joined the mission in Trujillo and was director of the joint formation project for Augustinian candidates from the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac.
Over the course of eleven years, he served as prior of the community (1988–1992), formation director (1988–1998), and instructor for professed members (1992–1998), and in the Archdiocese of Trujillo as judicial vicar (1989–1998) and professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Moral Theology at the Major Seminary 'San Carlos y San Marcelo'.
These too were places that Fr Looney spent time in.
"I was 10 years in Trujillo – it is the third city of Peru with a lot of poverty,' said Fr Looney. Many of those that Fr Looney worked with down through the years, including Fr Sean O'Sullivan and Fr John B O'Sullivan, would have got to know Fr Prevost during his time.
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"At least five or six missionaries from Kerry would have served with him.'
Fr Tom, as he is known in Kerry, was also a professor in the Seminary where Pope Leo XVI was professor.
"We have a lot of connections. It is unusual that I taught in the college where he later became professor.'
In 2014 when Pope Francis appointed Fr Prevost as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, this too was an area Fr Looney knew well and he has strong connections to.
The following year, he was named bishop of the city. On September 26, 2015, he was named bishop of Chiclayo and became a naturalized Peruvian citizen before becoming bishop.
By 2023 he was promoted to archbishop before this week being elected Pope.
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