When the first puffs of white smoke belched from the newly constructed Sistine Chapel chimney, thousands spread across the expanse of Saint Peter’s Square cheered with delight. A new Pope had been chosen. But their enthusiasm soon coupled with shock—a joyful shock—when it was announced that the new leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics is American-born.
One person not shocked was Regis University’s Father Kevin Burke. “Several of my colleagues were shocked,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “I was more shocked when they elected a Jesuit.” The Jesuit, of course, was Pope Francis, immediate predecessor to the newest Pope.
“I just had a sense that Cardinal Prevost was a possible candidate,” said Burke. His confidence, though measured, was based on the new Pope’s résumé along with a personal story now widely known.
Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was born Sept. 14, 1955, to Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martinez. He is of Spanish, French and Italian descent. He is the youngest of three brothers. All three boys were educated in Catholic schools, but Prevost’s path, said older brother John, was inextricably connected to the church, first as an altar boy.
Rob, as he was called, “knew he was going to be a priest from the time he could walk.” A neighbor, said his brother, once joked that ‘Rob was going to be Pope someday.’
Graduating in 1977 from Villanova, a Philadelphia Jesuit college, Prevost entered the novitiate—training—for the Order of Saint Augustine. He was ordained as a priest in 1982.
His path took him to Peru in 1985 where he ministered some of the country’s poorest congregations. He also served in various other positions throughout the country before returning to Chicago. The arc of his career was a steady trajectory to Bishop in 2015. In 2023 he was named to the College of Cardinals. Both titles were conferred by Pope Francis.
The new Pope has experience in Rome, working at the Vatican as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. In that role, he oversaw the appointment of bishops. Also, during this time, he often visited with Pope Francis.
While it remains unknown, said Burke, the new Pope is expected to follow many of the ways of Francis. “He is close to people and has seen their needs…their suffering,” Burke said. But cautioned the Regis University cleric, “He won’t be Francis.”
But like Pope Francis, Burke expects the new Pope to adopt a similar direction on women in the church, elevating them to positions with higher responsibilities but stopping at ordaining them as priests.
News of a new Pope reached Alamosa at the same time the first puffs of white smoke began drifting skyward on the other side of the world. “It startled me,” said Father Carlos Alvarez, who ministers Alamosa’s Sacred Heart Catholic Church. “I never thought we would have a Pope from the United States.” The Pueblo native and Notre Dame graduate was pleased. “He has a servant’s heart…full of kindness and compassion,” said Alvarez.
Interestingly, Alvarez may be one of the few, perhaps even the only person in Colorado to have met the new Pope. “I met him; I was in his office.”
Alvarez believes the church’s new leader will be embraced much the way Francis was. “He’ll bring different gifts,” he suspects. But like Pope Francis, he will also reflect both kindness and gentleness.
The Alamosa spiritual leader also suspects that the new Pope will reflect a 21st century attitude on women in the church. “I think he’ll continue (elevating women).”
Francis challenged church orthodoxy with appointments of women to positions of rank that broke tradition. He appointed Sister Alessandra Smerilli, a trained economist, to a senior position in the Vatican’s governing body, the Roman Curia. The Curia oversees the world’s Catholic religious orders. Another woman, Sister Raffaella Petrini, was appointed by Francis to President of the Pontifical Commission and Governorate of Vatican City State.
The new Pope holds dual citizenship in both America and Peru. And while he speaks English, Italian and Spanish, he also is known to speak his mind on social and political issues. He is the first Pope to have his own X (formerly Twitter) account. He was also once a registered voter and voted regularly in Illinois and national elections.
In an X account belonging to “Robert Prevost”, he has tweeted, or posted on X, criticism of President Trump for his 2017 Muslim ban and the policy of separating children from their undocumented parents. (Neither could be independently verified for authenticity.) The same account also was critical of Vice President Vance’s “interpretation” of biblical text on who a person chooses to love. “JD Vance is wrong,” the tweet said.
While it remains a mystery if the former Cardinal will continue to post on X, Alvarez guesses that the new Pope will sometime address “tech dependency.”
The Alamosa pastor says technology, including X, has become an obsession and addiction to too many, causing a loss of both faith and dignity. “He (Pope Leo) is probably shocked where his home country is going (with technology).”
When it was learned that the new Pope was an American, a Chicagoan and a sports fan (he also plays tennis), one of the first questions asked was about ‘his team.’
A sign outside of Wrigley Field, home of the Chicago Cubs, erroneously claimed him as a Cub fan. But Pope Leo’s brother quickly disabused anyone of that idea. “He was never a Cubs fan,” said brother and fellow south-sider. “I don’t know where that came from. He was always a Sox fan.”
Editorial point of privilege: While Pope Leo’s White Sox lost 121 games a year ago, this year’s Colorado Rockies are on pace to lose 132. Please Pope Leo, send prayers.
