Pope Leo XIV, 69, was born Robert Francis Prevost and is a native of Chicago, Illinois. He is the first American citizen to be elected pope, Aleteia.org writes in a profile of the newly elected pope.
Prevost attended an Augustinian seminary for high school. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982. Prevost spent most of his spiritual mission in Peru. About three years after his ordination as a priest, Prevost joined an Augustinian mission in the country. He later served as Chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986.
After a brief stay in the United States, Prévost returned to Peru in the late 1980s. He taught at both the Augustinian Seminary and the diocesan seminaries in Trujillo. From 1989 to 1998, Prévost was judicial vicar of the Archdiocese of Trujillo.
Prévost then returned to the United States. On December 12, 2014, he was ordained a bishop. Prévost was Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, when he was appointed to the Dicastery for Bishops. He is also head of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In 2023, Prevost was elevated to the College of Cardinals.
Prevost is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian. He addressed the crowd in St. Peter's in Italian, Spanish, and Latin after being introduced as Pope Leo XIV.