Latest news with #NewLenox
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
The pope is on the line: AP is there for pontiff's call to his brother in Chicago
NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — It was one of the most surreal phone calls I've experienced. A few hours earlier, John Prevost had watched the TV in stunned disbelief as his younger brother emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and was named Pope Leo XIV. Journalists quickly showed up at the older brother's front door in suburban Chicago to learn everything they could about the new pontiff. I was one of them. I had arrived at Prevost's home in New Lenox in the early evening after packing up and driving three hours from Indianapolis, where I am based. After walking by other media and news equipment outside, I knocked on the door. Prevost let me come in. As we talked, a ringing came from the basement. Prevost hurried to a tablet downstairs and I followed, my camera on. 'That might be the pope,' he said. He found he had a few missed phone calls from his brother. He called the pope back, using a speaker to play the audio out loud. The pope picked up. I got the shot — the new pontiff's voice speaking to his older brother, asking him why he hadn't been answering his calls. I was shaking. 'Well, first you need to know you're on the air right now," the older brother responded. 'This is the first time I'm hearing that this thing rang.' The conversation went on for just a few minutes. They talked about the news of the day and discussed making plans for the older brother to come to Rome sometime this week. They talked like regular siblings. During the rest of the interview, Prevost and I spoke about the new pope and the brothers' family. We talked about their childhood in Chicago and the pope's favorite food, which is steak. Prevost told me they FaceTime almost every day and they play The New York Times' game Wordle. He said the last time he had spoken with his brother was Tuesday before the conclave began. I couldn't help but replay over and over in my mind the call, a human moment from one of the world's most divine figures. The pope called his brother, and the brother called back.
Washington Post
09-05-2025
- General
- Washington Post
The pope is on the line: AP is there for pontiff's call to his brother in Chicago
NEW LENOX, Ill. — It was one of the most surreal phone calls I've experienced. A few hours earlier, John Prevost had watched the TV in stunned disbelief as his younger brother emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and was named Pope Leo XIV. Journalists quickly showed up at the older brother's front door in suburban Chicago to learn everything they could about the new pontiff. I was one of them.
Associated Press
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Associated Press
The pope is on the line: AP is there for pontiff's call to his brother in Chicago
NEW LENOX, Ill. (AP) — It was one of the most surreal phone calls I've experienced. A few hours earlier, John Prevost had watched the TV in stunned disbelief as his younger brother emerged on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica and was named Pope Leo XIV. Journalists quickly showed up at the older brother's front door in suburban Chicago to learn everything they could about the new pontiff. I was one of them. I had arrived at Prevost's home in New Lenox in the early evening after packing up and driving three hours from Indianapolis, where I am based. After walking by other media and news equipment outside, I knocked on the door. Prevost let me come in. As we talked, a ringing came from the basement. Prevost hurried to a tablet downstairs and I followed, my camera on. 'That might be the pope,' he said. He found he had a few missed phone calls from his brother. He called the pope back, using a speaker to play the audio out loud. The pope picked up. I got the shot — the new pontiff's voice speaking to his older brother, asking him why he hadn't been answering his calls. I was shaking. 'Well, first you need to know you're on the air right now,' the older brother responded. 'This is the first time I'm hearing that this thing rang.' The conversation went on for just a few minutes. They talked about the news of the day and discussed making plans for the older brother to come to Rome sometime this week. They talked like regular siblings. During the rest of the interview, Prevost and I spoke about the new pope and the brothers' family. We talked about their childhood in Chicago and the pope's favorite food, which is steak. Prevost told me they FaceTime almost every day and they play The New York Times' game Wordle. He said the last time he had spoken with his brother was Tuesday before the conclave began. I couldn't help but replay over and over in my mind the call, a human moment from one of the world's most divine figures. The pope called his brother, and the brother called back.
Irish Times
09-05-2025
- General
- Irish Times
‘I don't think he'll be the silent one': Pope Leo XIV‘s brother reflects on his values and roots
John Prevost knew there was a chance his brother could be elected pope . 'Last Saturday when I was at church, one of the priests came over and told me the odds in Las Vegas were 18 to 1,' said Prevost, who lives in suburban Chicago . 'He didn't have a doubt. He thought it would definitely be my brother.' But Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was preparing for the conclave, shrugged it off when his older brother called from Illinois. 'He said, 'No way, not going to happen,'' recalled John Prevost (71) who is retired from a career as an educator and school principal. READ MORE Undated picture of Robert Prevost. Photograph: Courtesy of the Midwest Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel Of course, it did happen. Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, the first American pontiff. And for his friends and family back in Illinois, where the pope grew up, everything is different. In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday afternoon at his home in New Lenox, a tidy city of 27,000 people about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, John Prevost reflected on his brother's ascent to the papacy, the new pope's values and his American roots. American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected pope by the world's cardinals on the second day of the conclave. He is the first American pontiff. Leo, whom Prevost is accustomed to calling Rob, 'has great, great desire to help the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, the people who are ignored,' Prevost said. He predicted that his brother would carry on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis. 'The best way I could describe him right now is that he will be following in Francis's footsteps,' Prevost said. 'They were very good friends. They knew each other before he was pope, before my brother even was bishop.' [ Pope Leo XIV: First US-born pontiff addresses the faithful in St Peter's Square Opens in new window ] Prevost said he usually spoke by phone with his brother every night, but had not talked to him since the conclave began. He said the new pope was 'simple, really. He's not going to go out for a 19-course meal.' Last August, Prevost said, his brother stayed with him at his home in New Lenox for a few weeks. John Prevost, brother of Robert Prevost, Pope Leo XIV. Photograph: New York Times The brothers grew up in Dolton, Illinois, just outside Chicago, and attended church and school at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish on Chicago's South Side. Their father, Louis Prevost, was a school superintendent and their mother, Mildred Prevost, was a librarian who was deeply involved in parish life. In addition to John and Robert, now Leo, the Prevosts had one other son, who now lives in Florida. The future pope left Illinois to attend high school in Michigan and college in Pennsylvania, but returned to his home state for graduate school and for various postings with the Augustinians, the religious order that he joined. Leo also spent much of his career in Peru. John Prevost described Pope Leo as 'middle of the road' and said, 'I don't think we'll see extremes either way.' But, he said, his brother would not be afraid to use this new platform. [ 'It's like our Olympics': Irish priests among stunned faithful in St Peter's Square as Pope Leo XIV emerges Opens in new window ] 'I don't think he'll stay quiet for too long if he has something to say,' Prevost said. 'I know he's not happy with what's going on with immigration. I know that for a fact. How far he'll go with it is only one's guess, but he won't just sit back. I don't think he'll be the silent one.' Asked if his brother had expressed a desire to be pope, Prevost said 'not really.' But over time, as he ascended the ranks of the church, his answer to that question had started to shift. 'It was 'absolutely not, absolutely not, God forbid,'' Prevost said. 'And then it became, 'Well, if it's what God wants, then we'll deal with it.'' Thursday was a blur for Prevost, whose phone rang constantly during an interview and whose street was lined with news trucks. 'I get that people are interested because it's a first in so many ways,' Prevost said. Asked what his parents, who died years ago, would be thinking, he said, 'They would be on cloud nine. Absolutely incredible. You couldn't even dream this.' When he is finally able to reach his brother, Prevost said he planned to ask what he would do for relaxation and whether he would ever really be off the job. He said he hoped to go see him in Rome, but did not know yet how that would work. In the immediate term, though, there was one important fact to clear up. The pope, Prevost said, was not a fan of the Chicago Cubs, as some had reported. He had always cheered for the White Sox. This article originally appeared in The New York Times . 2025 The New York Times Company
Washington Post
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Washington Post
Leo XIV's brother recalls feeling of 'disbelief' over his sibling becoming pope
NEW LENOX, Ill. — When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother's name was announced . 'She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it's too far from what we thought would happen,' Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.
