Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost elected first American pope, becomes Pope Leo XIV
Never in the history of the Roman Catholic Church has there been an American pope, until now. Cardinal Robert Prevost is originally from Chicago, and served as the head of the church's Dicastery for Bishops.
He was elected to be the successor to Pope Francis by the College of Cardinals Thursday, May 8, 2025. He has chosen the papal name Pope Leo XIV.
Francis was the first pope to come from the Americas and was celebrated as the first Latin American pope; Prevost is the first from the United States.
Born in Chicago in 1955, Pope Leo XIV studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
At age 27, he was sent to Rome to study, and was ordained as a priest in 1982.
In 1985, he went to Peru to work as a missionary. He returned to the U.S. in 1986, and then went back to Peru in 1988, to run an Augustinian seminary in Trujillo.
In 1999, he was elected provincial of the Augustinain Province of Chicago, and in 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, and he was ordained as a bishop.
In 2020, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao, Peru, and in 2023, Pope Francis made him a cardinal.
Leo XIV is seen as a progressive on many social issues, but conservative on church doctrine; he opposes ordaining women as deacons, for example. Overall, many view him as a centrist.
Like Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV spent time embracing marginalized groups such as the poor. He has spent much of his time serving in Peru, and holds nationality in both the U.S. and Peru.
What are Pope Leo XIV's views?
Those who have known Prevost through his theological career said they believed his papacy will not deviate far from Pope Francis' work. Father Mark R. Francis, CSV, provincial of the Viatorians in the United States, said he believed the two will be similar in terms of goals.
"The kind of style he would bring to the papacy would be calm, steady, very direct kind of guidance," he said.
Pope Leo XIV attended the Catholic Theological Union near the University of Chicago in the late 1970s and early 1980s. When speaking with theologians and experts, the subject of Pope Leo XIV's name choice kept coming up as a sign that may point to the priorities of his papacy.
"It might indicate Catholic social though is really important," said Bill Cavanaugh, director of the Center for World Catholicism and Intercultural Theology.
"His choice of Leo XIV is significant going to back to the last Pope Leo, Pope Leo XIII, who was in the last century and was very important in terms of social justice and workers' rights," said Erin Walsh, professor at the University of Chicago. "And bringing the Roman Catholic Church into the modern world at the end of the 19th century.
When it comes to Catholic social thought and the significance of his name, Pope Leo XIV is said to have a focus on economic justice, the common good, human dignity and even the environment.
Fellow priest believed in Cardinal Prevost as papal candidate
Francis studied with Leo XIV when he was a cardinal, and said his work in Latin America for many years would play a large role in any decision to elect him as pope.
Francis and Leo XIV were seminary classmates at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago from 1978 until 1982. They also both worked in Rome in the early 2000s.
"My experience of Cardinal Prevost was that he's not a showboat," said Fr. Francis. "He's very calm, but extremely intelligent, and extremely compassionate."
Before Leo XIV's election, Fr. Francis was asked what his hope is for the next pope.
"I think coming together as a Christian community, that we're able to read the signs of the times and figure out what we need to do as a church," Francis said. "He's a person who's very sensitive, and is concerned to allow everyone to have a voice."
