The American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost has been elected as the 276th pontiff and becomes the first American, the first Peruvian, and the first Augustinian to be pope of the Catholic Church.
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At 69 years old, he has a long career that in recent years led him to be close to Pope Francis, who appointed him in 2023 as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the body responsible for the selection and appointment of bishops.
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Who is Robert Francis Prevost?
Born on September 14, 1955 in Chicago, son of a mother of Spanish descent, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and made his solemn vows in 1981.
He has a broad academic background that includes a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University, a Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a Bachelor’s and Doctorate magna cum laude in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. His doctoral thesis focused on “The role of the local prior of the Order of Saint Augustine.”
His trajectory in the Church has been marked by important roles and achievements, and although he was accused by an organization of covering up reports of alleged sexual abuse against two priests of the Peruvian diocese of Chiclayo that he led until 2023 when he was called to Rome. These accusations were denied by the diocese.
Peruvian journalist Pedro Salinas, who conducted an investigation into the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae organization, a Peruvian movement dissolved in January by Pope Francis, asserts that the accusations against Prevost are “absolutely false”.
The first Peruvian pope
After his ordination as a priest in 1982, Prevost joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and served as the chancellor of the Territorial Prelature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986.
In 1987 he was elected director of vocations and director of missions of the Augustinian province of ‘Mother of Good Counsel’ in Illinois and in 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the joint training project for Augustinian aspirants in the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurímac. There he served as prior of the community (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998), and master of professed (1992-1998). In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, he was judicial vicar (1989-1998) and professor of canon law at the Major Seminary “San Carlos and San Marcelo”.
In October 2013, he returned to Chicago to serve again as master of the professed and provincial vicar, roles he carried out until November 3, 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him as apostolic administrator of the Peruvian diocese of Chiclayo, elevating him to the dignity of bishop and assigning him the titular diocese of Sufar.
In 2015 he adopted Peruvian nationality.
He was ordained bishop on December 12, the feast day of Our Lady of Guadalupe, at the cathedral of his diocese. And in March 2018, he was appointed as the second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference.
In 2019, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020, as well as apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao. It was in 2023 when he was appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
He is a member of seven dicasteries of the Vatican, as well as of the Commission for the Government of the State of Vatican City, which has been interpreted as an indication of Pope Francis’ trust in the cardinal.
Poor, migrants, and climate change
With Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis, whom he met in Buenos Aires, he shares his vision on the poor and migrants.
He was “a man who wanted to live the Gospel with authenticity, with coherence,” said Prevost of Francis, and among his most cherished teachings, he highlighted his desire for “a poor Church, that walks with the poor, that serves the poor.”
In an interview with Vatican News, Prevost recalled the late pontiff’s first apostolic trip to Lampedusa, for his “closeness to migrants” and the letter written to the bishops of the United States last February “on the importance of being close to those who suffer and having the heart of Jesus Christ”, when the program of mass deportation of illegal immigrants and refugees was launched.
The new Pope Leo XIV has also spoken out about the need to urgently act against climate change, another concern of Francis, and is a defender of the synodal church. Regarding the possibility of ordaining women, the cardinal has expressed opposition and in an interview he has stated that “clericalizing women does not necessarily solve a problem, it could create a new one”.