Universal Shepherd

June 1, 2025

From Chicago to Peru to Rome, Robert Prevost’s life reflects the Augustinian pursuit of truth, charity and communion

By Columbia staff

June 1, 2025

An undated file photo shows Pope John Paul II greeting then-Augustinian Father Prevost. (OSV News photo/Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel handout via Reuters)

A young Robert Prevost is pictured in a yearbook from St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, Mich. (Photo by OSV News photo/courtesy Father Becket Franks)

Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was born Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago to Louis and Mildred (Martínez) Prevost. The youngest of three sons, he grew up in a multicultural home — his father of French and Italian descent, his mother of Spanish and Creole roots from New Orleans. As a child, Robert delighted in “playing Mass” with an ironing board and candy wafers, hinting early at a priestly vocation.

He graduated from Villanova University in 1977 with a degree in mathematics and entered the Order of St. Augustine that same year. After professing final vows in 1981, he was ordained to the priesthood in 1982 and later earned a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum).

Bishop Robert Prevost of Chiclayo, Peru, rides a horse down a dirt road in October 2017. (Photo courtesy of The St. Augustine Foundation)

His formative years were marked by missionary service in Peru and teaching roles in seminaries, where he specialized in canon law, patristics and moral theology. From 2001 to 2013, he served as prior general of the worldwide Augustinian order, based in Rome — leading a global community shaped by the Rule of St. Augustine, which calls members to “live harmoniously in your house, intent upon God, with one heart and one soul.”

Augustinian spirituality, centered on unity, truth and love, deeply shaped his ministry. “St. Augustine’s teachings touch every part of life,” he said in a 2023 interview. “Unity and communion are essential charisms of the order and a fundamental part of understanding what the Church is and what it means to be in it.”

Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his wife, Vanessa, speak with Cardinal Prevost on Sept. 30, 2023 — Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly and his wife, Vanessa, speak with Cardinal Prevost in the Vatican’s Hall of Blessings on Sept. 30, 2023, following the consistory at which he was created a cardinal. (Photo by William Yallaly)

In 2014, Pope Francis appointed Father Prevost apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, Peru, and named him bishop a year later — a role he held until his return to Rome in 2023 as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. That same year, he was elevated to the College of Cardinals.

On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Prevost was elected the 267th pope and universal shepherd of the Catholic Church. In his inauguration homily 10 days later, Pope Leo XIV called the 1.4 billion members of his flock to bear witness to peace and unity: “I would like that our first great desire be for a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world.”

More than 250,000 mourners attend the funeral Mass of Pope Francis on April 26, 2025

Universal Shepherd

Related Articles

Vatican

A Pilgrim of Hope

A Pilgrim of Hope

Vatican

Habemus Papam!

Habemus Papam!

Vatican

‘In the One Christ, We Are One’

‘In the One Christ, We Are One’

Vatican

A Light to the World

A Light to the World

Vatican

‘More Sublime Than Ever’

‘More Sublime Than Ever’

Vatican

‘To Be a Leaven of Peace and Holiness’

‘To Be a Leaven of Peace and Holiness’

Vatican

On a ‘Journey of Fraternity’

On a ‘Journey of Fraternity’

Vatican

‘Saying Goodbye to a Man of the Church’

‘Saying Goodbye to a Man of the Church’