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Chicago Tribune
10-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Robert Prevost known as the ‘saint of the north' in Peru for his closeness to poor
Robert Prevost may have made history Thursday by becoming the first pope from the United States. But in Peru, he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential rains flooded the region, bringing help to needy people, and as the bishop who spearheaded the life-saving purchase of oxygen production plants during the COVID-19 pandemic. 'He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants,' said Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church's Caritas nonprofit in Peru. 'He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs,' she added. Pope Francis, history's first Latin American pope, clearly saw something in Prevost early on. He first sent him to Chiclayo in 2014, then brought him to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. On Thursday, Prevost ascended to become Pope Leo XIV — the first pontiff from the United States. Prevost, 69, had to overcome the taboo against an American pope, given the geopolitical power already wielded by the U.S. in the secular sphere. The Chicago native is also a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as bishop. He evoked his broad missionary experience in his first public remarks as pope, speaking in Italian, then switching to Spanish — and saying not a word in English as he addressed the crowd in St. Peter's Square. 'Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogues, that's always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love,' he said. The new pope had prominence going into the conclave that few other cardinals have. Prevost was twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinians, the 13th century religious order founded by St. Augustine. After Francis sent him to Chiclayo, he acquired Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to assume the bishops' office and presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In that job he would have kept in regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world that counts the most Catholics and presumably was crucial to his election Thursday. The Rev. Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope, said he was beloved in Peru for his closeness to his people, especially poor people. He said he was a champion of social justice issues and environmental stewardship. 'Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint, the Saint of the North, and he had time for everyone,' Lam said in an interview with The Associated Press in Rome. 'He was the person who would find you along the way. He was this kind of bishop.' He said that when Francis travelled to Peru in 2018, Prevost camped out with his flock on the ground during the vigil before Francis' Mass. 'Roberto has that style, that closeness. Maybe they are not great institutional gestures, but are in human gestures.' Ever since arriving in Rome, Prevost has kept a low public profile, but he is well known to the men who count. Significantly, he presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. In early 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals. The selection of a U.S.-born pope could have profound impact on the future of the U.S. Catholic Church, which has been sharply divided between conservatives and progressives. Francis, with Prevost's help at the help of the bishop vetting office, had embarked on a 12-year project to rein in the traditionalist tendencies in the United States. Prevost's election 'is a deep sign of commitment to social issues. I think it is going to be exciting to see a different kind of American Catholicism in Rome,'' said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a professor of religious studies at Manhattan University in New York City. The bells of the cathedral in Peru's capital of Lima tolled after Prevost's election was announced. People outside the church expressed their desire for a papal visit at one point. 'For us Peruvians, it is a source of pride that this is a pope who represents our country,' said elementary school teacher Isabel Panez, who happened to be near the cathedral when the news was announced. 'We would like him to visit us here in Peru.' The Rev. Fidel Purisaca Vigil, the communications director for Prevost's old diocese in Chiclayo, remembers the cardinal rising each day and having breakfast with his fellow priests after saying his prayers. 'No matter how many problems he has, he maintains good humor and joy,' Purisaca said in an email. Born in Chicago in 1955, Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1977. He attended Villanova University near Philadelphia, where he received a Bachelor of Science in 1977, and he got a Master of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982. In Rome, at the Augustinian headquarters just off St. Peter's Square, the mood was festive. The Rev. Franz Klein, treasurer general of the Augustinian order, said he was shocked by the news. 'For us, the Augustinian order, this is one of the biggest moments in history,' he said. 'I'm surprised and very happy.'
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Robert Francis Prevost: the moderate, good-humoured first US pope
Robert Francis Prevost – who has chosen the papal name Leo XIV – may not be the Latin American Jesuit wildcard that his predecessor, Pope Francis, was, but his election is similarly historic. In the figure of the 69-year-old former head of the Augustinian order, the Roman Catholic church has its very first US leader. Until Thursday evening, the idea of the fisherman's ring being slipped on to a North American hand was seen as a fairly distant possibility. The Vatican's longstanding opposition to a US pope stemmed largely from the optics of having a pontiff from a political superpower and a country with such a hegemonic cultural and secular global influence. But all that changed after a short conclave that chose a man who had been a cardinal for only a little more than two years. While his appointment is likely to be welcomed by progressive factions within the church, it was probably not the news that some of his more conservative, Trump-aligned US brother cardinals had been hoping for. Despite being born in Chicago on 14 September 1955, Prevost has never been a typical US Catholic cleric – not least because he also holds Peruvian citizenship. After giving his solemn vows in 1981 and studying in Rome, he was sent to a mission in Peru. He would go on to spend many years there as judicial vicar and as a professor of canon, patristic and moral law at a seminary in Peru's third city, Trujillo, before being appointed bishop of another northern city, Chiclayo, in November 2014. Those who know him from his time in Peru – where the church has often been beset by tensions between leftwing proponents of liberation theology and uber-traditionalist Catholics – recall a calm and grounded leader who would sit down to breakfast with his fellow priests after morning prayers. 'No matter how many problems he has, he maintains good humour and joy,' the Rev Fidel Purisaca Vigil, the communications director for Prevost's old diocese in Chiclayo, told the Associated Press. As a recent profile in Crux noted, Prevost acquired a reputation over the years as a hard-working and 'moderating influence' among Peru's ideologically disparate bishops, a talent that will prove invaluable during his papacy. In September 2023, Francis – who himself had to manage competing theological strains during his time as leader of the Jesuits in the turbulent, violent and oppressive Argentina of the 1970s – made Prevost a cardinal. Until Thursday evening, Prevost's most high-profile Vatican roles had been as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, which oversees the selection of new bishops from around the world. His strong connection to Latin America, combined with his more recent roles at the top of the church, may have gone a long way in endearing him to those who would not usually countenance the idea of a US pope. Prevost's recent CV also makes clear his proximity to Francis and he will doubtless be seen by many as a surprise, if welcome, kind of continuity candidate. Donald Trump, who hailed the appointment, calling the arrival of the first US pope 'a Great Honor for our Country', seldom saw eye-to-eye with Francis. The late pope was forthright in his criticism of Trump's border and immigration policies – not least his desire to wall off Mexico. 'A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian,' Francis said in February 2016. 'This is not the gospel.' The blunt rebuke did not land well with Trump. 'For a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful,' he said in response. 'No leader, especially a religious leader, has the right to question another man's religion or faith.' Whether Trump is right to be looking forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV – 'it will be a very meaningful moment!' – will depend on the degree to which the new bishop of Rome emulates his predecessor. Towards the beginning of his widely admired papacy, Francis insisted that the church should not be remote, nor cloistered, nor complacent in its relationship with the world. ''Mere administration' can no longer be enough,' he wrote. 'Throughout the world, let us be 'permanently in a state of mission'.' Francis was adamant that the church he led for 12 years would be a church for 'todos, todos, todos' (everyone, everyone, everyone). He also said he preferred a church 'which is bruised, hurting and dirty because it has been out on the streets, rather than a church which is unhealthy from being confined and from clinging to its own security'. More than a decade on, the streets – from Gaza and Ukraine to Sudan and Kashmir – have only become more bloody and more violent. As he addressed the world from the loggia of St Peter's Basilica on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV's first words were: 'Peace be with you.' His subsequent message, stressing the importance of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelisation, befitted the former leader of a mendicant order dedicated to poverty, service and pastoral work. But in his plea for peace to 'enter your hearts, to reach your families and all people, wherever they are', there was also, perhaps, more than a trace of his much-loved and much-missed predecessor. • This article was amended on 9 May 2025. Robert Prevost was made a cardinal in September 2023, not January as an earlier version stated.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
‘Quite a privilege'; Diocese of Austin celebrates election of first American Pope
AUSTIN (KXAN) — The Catholic Church on Thursday experienced a moment of history when cardinals elected the first-ever U.S. pope. Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, was named the 267th pontiff. He took the name Leo XIV. Robert Prevost, first pope from US in history of the Catholic Church, takes the name Leo XIV Catholic communities across the world celebrated the news of the new leader of the Catholic Church, who replaced Pope Francis after his death last month. In Central Texas, a Catholic population of more than 700,000 covered by the Austin Diocese is undoubtedly marking the occasion. Diocesan Administrator Father James Misko joined KXAN to talk about the historic moment. The Austin Diocese is currently without a Bishop as of late March, when its former Bishop Joe Vasquez stepped into the role of Archbishop of Galveston-Houston. Misko is the priest appointed during the interim, until a new Bishop is appointed. 'When it happened, it was just overwhelming, of course, as a Catholic priest, to see the new Holy Father come out, and then to realize, wow, he's an American,' Misko said of Pope Leo XIV. 'This is quite a privilege for us. What an honor for us to be able to have the Holy Father be an American.' Misko said he was in a finance council meeting for the Austin Diocese when white smoke billowed from a chimney of the Sistine Chapel, signaling the election of a new pope. He said he stopped the meeting immediately and everyone at the meeting gathered around his laptop. Austin Catholic community mourns death of Pope Francis 'It was just really a magnificent moment for us,' Misko said. 'We knew that he was one of the papabile — these are the Cardinals that prognosticators thought could be the next pope,' he explained. 'It was about 10 or 12 of them, and so we heard his name, but I didn't expect that.' Misko thinks Pope Leo XIV's background is important to his new role because he 'has experienced both with his feet on the ground in a diocese with people, and also at the Vatican with the important work of running the universal church,' Misko said. Pope Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 to assume the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, which is the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations from around the world, according to reporting from the Associated Press. It's one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church. Robert Prevost becomes first American pope of the Catholic Church: What to know Prior to that, Prevost was twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinian religious order, the 13th-century order founded by St. Augustine, per the AP. Francis moved him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and later archbishop of Chiclayo. He remained in that position, acquiring Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023. Misko posted a message on the Diocese of Austin's website on Thursday, celebrating the election of Prevost. Our hearts are filled with joy and gratitude for our new Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV. In God's good providence and with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Cardinals have provided the Church with a new shepherd. We ask God to fill him with grace and wisdom to sanctify the Church in unity, teach with truth and mercy, and lead us to proclaim the Gospel of Jesus Christ by our lives. Our time in history is marked by profound and complex challenges. We look to the Holy Father to be a voice that speaks not only for Catholics but for all humanity, bearing witness to the hopes, struggles, and dignity of every person created in God's image. As the rock, Pope Leo XIV now endeavors to embed himself onto the mountain of God so that we might have a foothold by which to pull ourselves ever closer to heaven in this life. May the Lord grant him strength in accepting the weight of this sacred office and may he be a faithful Vicar of Christ on earth. Invoking the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, we ask the Lord Jesus Christ, the Eternal High Priest, to guide Pope Leo XIV as he begins his Petrine ministry to the glory of God and for the good of God's people. Sincerely in Christ,Very Reverend James A. MiskoDiocesan Administrator St. Mary Cathedral in Austin will host a Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Leo XIV shortly after noon on Friday. The Mass will also be streamed online. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In Peru, Pope Leo XIV is fondly remembered in Chiclayo, his former diocese
In the Peruvian city of Chiclayo, just a few kilometers from the Pacific Ocean, nearly everyone knows Pope Leo XIV. For almost a decade, he walked its impoverished streets and villages before leaving for Rome in 2023, summoned by his predecessor, Pope Francis, to assume the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. (AP Video by Cesar Barreto and Cesar Olmos)
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - ‘Habemus Papam!' The stunning election and life of Pope Leo XIV
'Habemus Papam!' We have a Pope. We now know who the new Pope is — Robert Francis Prevost, now forever known as Leo XIV. He is the first American Pope and the second pontiff to hail from the Americas. At age sixty-nine, he is the second youngest pope in the modern era, with Saint John Paul II having reached the papacy at age 58. In his first 'Urbi et Orbi,' an apostolic address and blessing to the City of Rome and the world, Pope Leo XIV gave a special greeting to 'my dear diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru.' Having spent years working in Peru's poorest communities, the new Pope's love for that country became so strong that he became a naturalized citizen. Pope Leo XIV is also a former leader of the Augustinians, the religious order founded by St. Augustine. In his inaugural remarks, he described himself as 'a son of St. Augustine … who said, 'With you I am a Christian, for you, I am a bishop.'' As a leader of the Augustinians, the new Pope has traveled the world, becoming fluent in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and French in addition to his native English. Having spent so much time overseas, he is truly our first international Pope. In January 2023, Pope Francis called Robert Prevost to Rome to name him as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. The Dicastery for Bishops is the Vatican office that selects and manages bishops globally. Nine months later, Pope Francis elevated Archbishop Prevost to the rank of cardinal. Having served the Catholic Church in numerous capacities, Prevost became known as a capable administrator, a quality that surely impressed the cardinal electors as they searched for a successor to Pope Francis. Today, we know something about who the new Pope is and his background. The question remains what kind of Pope do we have? There is an inexact analogy one may draw upon here. In 1787, when the U.S. Constitution was being drafted in secrecy, many wondered what would emerge. So secret were the proceedings, that the windows in Philadelphia's Independence Hall were nailed shut during a hot summer's July to prevent outsiders from listening in. What kind of Pope do we now have? I suspect that even the new pontiff doesn't know how to fully respond. But there are clues. First, the name. Thirteen prior popes chose the name Leo to guide their pontificates. The last one, Leo XIII, was best known for his advocacy of social justice. In 1891, Leo XIII published an encyclical known as Rerum Novarum. In it, he noted that 'working men have been surrendered, isolated and helpless, to the hardheartedness of employers and the greed of unchecked competition.' To remedy the excesses of the new Industrial Age, Leo XIII called for their reinvigoration of 'workingmen's unions.' In today's era of globalization and economic upheaval, Pope Leo XIV is signaling his commitment to social justice that will have resonance far beyond the walls of the Vatican. In this, he is likely to be a prophetic voice, one with a worldwide platform that echoes Pope Francis's repeated calls for social justice and mercy. An interview Cardinal Prevost gave in 2023 provides important clues about his new pontificate. Asked to name the essential leadership qualities of a bishop, he responded: 'Pope Francis has spoken for four types of closeness: closeness to God, to brother bishops, to priests, and to all God's people.' He added, 'One must not give into the temptation to live isolated, separated in a palace, satisfied with a certain social level or a certain level within the church.' Speaking to the thousands gathered in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo XIV gave a clear indication that his pontificate will be a continuation of the themes struck by Pope Francis. Calling upon Jesus Christ to 'help us to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, uniting all of us to be one people always at peace,' adding, 'Thank you, Pope Francis!' Last year, Cardinal Prevost was a participant at the Synod on Synodality. Gathering priests, bishops, cardinals, and lay persons from all over the world, the assembly spent three weeks discussing the issues facing the church including the role of women, the gay and transgender Catholic community, and the importance of making the Catholic Church a listening church, one akin to Pope Francis's desire that it be a field hospital that hears all and welcomes all. Fr. James Martin, a participant at the Synod, recalled that Cardinal Prevost was his tablemate. In a social media post, Martin described Pope Leo XIV as a 'kind, open, humble, modest, decisive, hard-working, straightforward, trustworthy, and down-to-earth man.' And yet there is much we do not know. In his autobiography, Pope Francis wrote, 'I never imagined that I would write four encyclicals and all those letters, documents, apostolic exhortations, nor that I would have made all those journeys to more than sixty countries.' What the new Pope will write, where he will go, and what impact he will have on the Catholic Church has yet to unfold. Finally, going from being referred to as 'Your Eminence' to 'Your Holiness,' changes a man. Before Pope Francis became Pope, the reserved Jesuit rarely smiled for photographers. But as Pope, a smiling Francis kissed babies, hugged children, and prized his 'closeness' with those who suffer. Cardinal Prevost was once depicted as a man without excesses. Father Michael Falcone, an Augustinian priest and former classmate of Prevost's, described him as someone who would bless babies but never take them in his arms. But henceforth, Pope Leo XIV occupies the world stage. His life will never be the same. Yet one thing is clear. In his first address, Pope Leo XVI said, 'Let us move forward.' This, too, echoes the words of Pope Francis. In a homily at The Catholic University of America in 2015, Pope Francis said, 'Siempre adelante! Keep moving forward!' Under the leadership of Pope Leo XIV, Catholics can be confident that the Catholic Church will keep moving forward. John Kenneth White is a Professor Emeritus at The Catholic University of America. His latest book is titled 'Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
