Pope Leo XIV greeted the world today, May 8, 2025, by saying, “Peace be with you,” and then quickly reminded everyone that those were Jesus’ words to His disciples after being raised from the dead. He referred more than once to our hope in the risen Christ, which is perhaps the most foundational — and joyful — of all Christian teachings. The new pope went on to express his hope that the peace of Christ might grow in our hearts and in our world.
Pope Leo XIV is Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., and he is 69 years old. He holds dual citizenship in Perú and in his native United States. This is the first time a citizen of either country has occupied the Chair of St. Peter.
In his remarks today, the Holy Father spoke mainly in Italian but added a greeting in Spanish to the flock of his former Diocese of Chiclayo, Perú. This native of Chicago and alumnus of Villanova University did not speak in English today, perhaps offering a glimpse of his missionary sensibility of preferring to speak the language of those to whom he has been assigned to work.
His principal pastoral experience was in the Chulucanas Prelature as a priest and then from 2014-23 as bishop of the neighboring Diocese of Chiclayo. In between those two assignments, he was twice elected as the prior general of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine; he made his first profession as an Augustinian in 1978. He also holds a doctorate in Canon Law from the Angelicum, the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
I served in southern Peru 1985-1997; Chulucanas and Chiclayo are in the north, so I’ve never had the pleasure of meeting the man who is now our Holy Father. But on a visit to Peru in 2015, I heard a story about his 2014 assignment as bishop of Chiclayo. Then-Father Prevost was in Chicago when he received a call from the Papal Nuncio to Perú, notifying him that Pope Francis had appointed him to be bishop of Chiclayo, but there was one condition — his arrival there had to happen within 48 hours.
I don’t know the exact circumstances of why that condition was made; I do know that Opus Dei had been firmly established in that diocese since 1968 under the previous two bishops, both of whom were Spaniards, and so the appointment of Bishop Prevost would happen as a change from that prior history. In any case, Father Prevost accepted the appointment and quickly arrived in Chiclayo. It was during his years as bishop of Chiclayo that Prevost became a naturalized Peruvian citizen.
Prevost left Peru in 2023 when Pope Francis tapped him again, this time to become the Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops. In the Vatican, this is one of the top positions, charged with the responsibility of recommending to the Holy Father the appointment of bishops worldwide. It goes without saying that Prevost was someone who had the confidence of Pope Francis and was committed to carrying out the late pope’s agenda of choosing shepherds with a servant’s heart (who had the “smell of the sheep,” as Pope Francis liked to say).
That same year in Rome, Prevost was elevated to the College of Cardinals, and he also served as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
In the election of Pope Leo XIV, we clearly have a pope who shares so many values with the late Pope Francis. Like Pope Francis, his pastoral sensibilities were formed in the Catholic Church in Latin America. Concepts like the option for the poor, care for the vulnerable, and synodality are important to Catholics in Latin America. I would expect that the emphasis Pope Francis put on synodality, a process of walking together in the Church and listening to each other and to the needs of the world, is likely to continue under Pope Leo XIV’s leadership.
His choice of the name Leo is a clear reference to the last Pope with that name, Pope Leo XIII (pope from 1878-1903) who was the author of Rerum Novarum, the first modern encyclical on Catholic social teaching; published in 1891, Rerum Novarum endorsed the right of workers to unionize.
It may also be a reference to Pope Leo the Great (pope form 440-461), who was a theologian whose work was foundational for the Council of Chalcedon’s teaching on the divine and human natures of Christ, and who also was a peacemaker during invasions of Rome during his papacy.
“It is important to note his Augustinian charism,” adds Sister Rosemarie Nassif. “St. Augustine preached unity, truth, and love. Augustinians are noted for their love of community and unity together. I believe that will be a prominent grace that Pope Leo XIV will live as leader of the Catholic Church.”
