Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, pronounced ; September 14, 1955) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City.
Born in Chicago, United States, Prevost became a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and was ordained as a priest in 1982. He earned a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987 from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He performed extensive missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s, working as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher, and administrator. Elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, he was based in Rome from 2001 to 2013, though traveled extensively. He then returned to Peru as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, and became a Peruvian citizen. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome, and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Upon his return to Rome, Prevost was made a cardinal.
As a cardinal, Prevost emphasized synodality, missionary dialogue, and engagement with social and technological challenges; he has also addressed climate change, international migration, church governance, and human rights. Prevost's election in the 2025 conclave was unexpected by observers, as he was considered a dark horse candidate. He is the first pope from the United States or North America, and the first to be a citizen of Peru. He is also the first pope from the Order of Saint Augustine. Following the precedent of Pope Leo XIII, who developed modern Catholic social teaching amid the tumult of the Second Industrial Revolution, Prevost chose the papal name Leo XIV—both to echo Leo XIII's concern for workers and fairness, and as a response to the challenges of a new industrial revolution and artificial intelligence.
As pope, Leo has consistently opposed armed conflict and nationalism while advocating for the rights of immigrants. He has introduced new warnings about the use of artificial intelligence technology. Leo has affirmed the teachings of his predecessors, including social teachings and the climate policy of Pope Francis. He has consistently pointed to the teachings of the Second Vatican Council as the "guiding star" of the church. In 2026, he confronted the second Écône consecrations, which resulted in renewed excommunications and schism with the Society of St. Pius X.
Early life, family, and education (1955–1973) Background and ancestry
Robert Francis Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, at Mercy Hospital in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois, on the city's South Side. He is of French, Italian, Spanish, and Louisiana Creole descent.
His father, Louis Marius Prevost, was born in Chicago and grew up in Hyde Park. Louis's father and mother were immigrants from Italy and France, respectively. A United States Navy veteran of World War II, Louis earned a Master of Education from DePaul University and later became superintendent of Brookwood School District 167 in Glenwood, Illinois. Prevost's mother, Mildred Agnes Prevost (), was also born in Chicago, into a mixed-race Black Creole family from Louisiana. She graduated from DePaul with a bachelor's in library science and a Master of Education, becoming an educator and a librarian, including at Mendel Catholic High School.
Early life and schooling
Known as "Rob" to his family and "Bob" to friends as an adult, Prevost was raised in Dolton, Illinois, a suburb bordering the far South Side; his childhood home was purchased by the Village of Dolton after he became pope. He grew up in the parish of St. Mary of the Assumption in nearby Riverdale, Chicago. Prevost has two older brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph. His parents were practicing Catholics who were very involved in the parish: Louis was a catechist—a teacher of the faith—and Mildred was an active member of the Rosary and Altar Society, sang in the church choir, provided services for the church, and went to daily Mass. According to Leo, he was greatly influenced by his parents' faith.
His mother would call him and his brothers to go to Mass before school at 6:30 a.m. and told them Jesus "is your best friend," and Mass was "a way to find that friend." Prevost went to the parish Catholic school and served as a choirboy and altar boy. Prevost aspired to the priesthood from a young age and would play-act the Mass at home with his brothers. He decided to enter the Augustinian order in the eighth grade after visits by priests of multiple different religious orders to the family home, later saying the Salesians of Don Bosco "came in second place".
From 1969 to 1973, Prevost attended St. Augustine Seminary High School, a minor seminary near Saugatuck, Michigan; his brother John recalled how, from the end of eighth grade on, and especially after joining the Order of Saint Augustine, until their later adulthood when leave allowed them to reconnect, Prevost was hardly at home or with their family.
At the Augustinian seminary, he earned a letter of commendation for academic excellence, consistently appeared on the honor roll, served as yearbook editor in chief, and was secretary of the student council and a member of the National Honor Society. He captained the bowling team and headed the speech and debate team, competing in Congressional Debate. Well-liked and highly intelligent, Prevost had a reputation for helping other students as a tutor. Out of several dozen who entered the school with him, Prevost was one of only 13 students in his class to graduate.
University, seminary, and early priesthood (1973–1998)
University
In 1973, Prevost was planning to attend Tolentine College, an Augustinian seminary in Olympia Fields, Illinois, but it closed that same year. Instead, he enrolled in Villanova University, an Augustinian college located near Philadelphia, where he earned a Bachelor of Science (BS) in mathematics in 1977. At Villanova, he took elective courses in Hebrew and Latin, read the writings of Augustine of Hippo, and discussed the work of theologian Karl Rahner with other students. He was a founding member of Villanovans for Life, the oldest collegiate pro-life club in the United States. While studying at Villanova, Prevost also worked as a cemetery groundskeeper at Saint Denis Catholic Church in Havertown, Pennsylvania.
Entry into Augustinians and seminary studies
On September 1, 1977, Prevost entered the Order of Saint Augustine's novitiate in the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, residing for one year at Immaculate Conception Church in St. Louis, Missouri. In the summer of 1978, Prevost spent three months in Clinical Pastoral Education at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis. He took his first vows on September 2, 1978, and his solemn vows on August 29, 1981.
He returned to Hyde Park, where his father had grown up, to obtain a Master of Divinity (MDiv) from Catholic Theological Union in 1982 and taught physics and math at St. Rita of Cascia High School in Chicago during his studies. As his spiritual director, a guide to the Christian life, he chose a religious sister, Sister Lyn Osiek, RSCJ, the supervisor of his theological reflection class.
Ordination and missionary work in Peru On September 10, 1981, Prevost was ordained a deacon by Thomas Gumbleton at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, Michigan. That same year, Prevost concluded his studies at Catholic Theological Union. Prevost was ordained a priest in Rome, at the Chapel of Saint Monica of the Augustinians by Archbishop Jean Jadot on June 19, 1982.
Prevost earned a Licentiate of Canon Law (JCL) in 1984, followed by a Doctor of Canon Law (JCD) in 1987, both from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome. During this period, he also learned Italian and took part in the October 1983 protests against the placement of BGM-109G Gryphon missiles at Comiso Airport which occurred across Europe at this time. His doctoral thesis was a legal study of the role of Augustinian local priors.
Prevost joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985, serving as chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas, as well as an aide to bishop John McNabb. Much of his work in his first year in Peru focused on disaster relief following severe El Niño rainstorms. In 1987, after defending his doctoral thesis, he was vocation director and missions director of the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Olympia Fields, Illinois, and worked with the faculty of the Augustinian Novitiate in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin, before returning to Peru in 1988. During his time in Peru, Prevost met and appreciated Dominican priest and theologian Gustavo Gutierrez, a pioneer of liberation theology. He also learned and mastered the Spanish language during this period.
Prevost spent a decade heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo, Peru, teaching canon law in the diocesan seminary, serving as prefect of studies, acting as a judge in the regional ecclesiastical court, and working in the parish ministry on the city's outskirts. From 1992 to 1999, he was also parochial administrator of Our Lady of Montserrat, Trujillo. He proved successful in the Augustinians' efforts to recruit Peruvians for the priesthood and leadership positions in the order. He organized support for Venezuelan refugees to Peru despite discrimination against the Venezuelans. During the Fujimorato era, Prevost criticized the actions of then president Alberto Fujimori, placing special emphasis on the victims of the Peruvian Army, especially the Colina Group, during the period of terrorism in Peru, as well as on political corruption. In 2017, he criticized President Pedro Pablo Kuczynski's decision to pardon Fujimori and called upon Fujimori "to personally apologize for some of the great injustices that were committed". He was described as a defender of the human rights of the population of the Norte Chico region against the violence of the Marxist–Leninist–Maoist guerrilla organization Shining Path.
Prior provincial and prior general (1998–2013)
In 1998, Prevost was elected Prior Provincial of the Order of St. Augustine's Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel based in Chicago, assuming the role on March 8, 1999. In 2000, he permitted James Ray, a priest of the Archdiocese of Chicago, to reside at St. John Stone Friary in Chicago under supervision. Ray had been suspended from public ministry since 1991 due to credible accusations that he had sexually abused minors. Prevost's allowing of the placement of Ray in a friary at the request of the Archdiocese of Chicago and close to St. Thomas School was the subject of reporting in 2021, prior to his appointment to the Vatican. According to the Augustinians, "the location was selected because of the supervision the priest would receive." After American bishops implemented stricter rules in the Dallas Charter, Ray was moved to other housing in 2002.
Elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine in 2001, Prevost served two consecutive, six-year terms until 2013. During his tenure as global head of the Augustinian order, Prevost lived and worked in Rome but frequently traveled around the world. It was in that capacity that in 2004, he visited Buenos Aires and met Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio, the future Pope Francis, for the first time. Their early encounters are reported to have not gone well. Prevost later explained that at the time, he thought he would never become a bishop after Bergoglio was elected Pope in 2013; he has declined to reveal what they initially disagreed upon. However, they were able to reconcile their differences before Prevost left Rome for Chicago in 2013.
From 2013 to 2014, Prevost served as director of formation at the Convent of St. Augustine in Chicago and as first councilor and provincial vicar of the province of Our Mother of Good Counsel.
Bishop of Chiclayo (2015–2023)