Robert Francis Prevost became the first pope from the United States on Thursday, May 8, picking the papal name Leo XIV after cardinals from around the world elected him leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics.
Tens of thousands of people packed in St. Peter’s Square cheered as Prevost appeared on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica, waving with both hands, smiling and bowing.
Here are 10 quick facts about the new pope:
1. Robert Francis Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois.
2. He entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in 1977 and made his solemn vows in 1981.
3. As a former prefect of the influential Dicastery for Bishops, the Chicago-born prelate shared views close to the immediate past Pope Francis and spent many years as a missionary in Peru before being elected head of the Augustinians for two consecutive terms.
4. Prevost bagged a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977, a Master of Divinity from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and both a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. His doctoral thesis was on “The role of the local prior in the Order of Saint Augustine.”
5. He was ordained a priest in 1982. After his ordination, Prevost joined the Augustinian mission in Peru in 1985 and served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986.
6. The American prelate spent the year 1987 to 1988 in the United States as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago before returning to Peru where he spent the next ten years heading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teaching canon law in the diocesan seminary, where he was also prefect of studies. He also served in other capacities there, including as a parish pastor, diocesan official, director of formation, seminary teacher, and judicial vicar.
7. In 1999, he returned to Chicago and was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province in the archdiocese. Two and a half years later, he was elected prior general of the Augustinian and served two terms until 2013.
8. Prevost returned to Peru in 2014 when Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo. He was elevated to Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015. While there, he also served as vice president and member of the permanent council of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference from 2018 to 2023.
9. In 2020 and 2021, Prevost served as apostolic administrator of Callao, Peru.
10. Pope Francis appointed Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in January 2023, a powerful position responsible for selecting bishops, a position he held until Pope Francis died on April 21, 2025. On September 30, 2023, Pope Francis elevated Prevost to the rank of cardinal.
