Robert PrevostThe choice of global Catholic cardinals to serve as a church leader of 1.4 billion members, is the first pope in the United States And a relative unknown on the world scene.
Aged 69 and from Chicago, Prévost spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and became cardinal in 2023. He gave few media interviews.
He takes the papal name Leo XIVAnd succeeds Pope Francis, who has run the church since 2013.
William McGrattan, president of the Canadian Catholic bishops conference, told journalists in a church in Edmonton that he had met the new Pope a few times while Prevost was Cardinal.
He said that the new pontiff is a sensitive, calm and humble person who listens before speaking.
McGrattan added that the appointment of an American pope feels prophetic while the United States dealt with social problems that have global impacts, and hopes that the Americans will be open to the “voice of truth” of the new Pope.
Reverend Mark Francis, a friend of Prevost since the 1970s, told Reuters that Cardinal was a fervent supporter of the papacy of his predecessor, and in particular the commitment of the deceased pontiff towards questions of social justice.
“He was always friendly and warm and has remained a voice of common sense and practical concerns for the awareness of the Church to the poor,” said Francis, who attended the seminar with Prevost and later knew him when they both lived in Rome in the 2000s.
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“He has an ironic sense of humor, but was not someone who was looking for the spotlight,” said Francis, who directs the American province of the Viatorian religious order.
Prevost first served as a bishop in Chiclayo, in northwestern Peru, from 2015 to 2023, and became a Peruvian citizen in 2015, he therefore has a dual nationality.
Pope Francis brought it to Rome that year to lead the Vatican office responsible for choosing the priests should serve as Catholic bishops around the world, which means that he has helped to select many bishops of the world.
DOSS – The new Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for the Bishops, means a portrait at the end of the Consistory where Pope Francis raised 21 new cardinals on Saint -Pierre Place at the Vatican, September 30, 2023. (AP photo / Riccardo de Luca, file).
Jesus Leon Angeles, coordinator of a Catholic group in Chiclayo who has known Prévost since 2018, called him a “very simple” person who would do everything possible to help others.
Leon Angeles said Prevost had shown a particular concern for Venezuelan migrants in Peru, saying: “He’s a person who likes to help.” More than 1.5 million Venezuelans have moved to Peru in recent years, in part to escape the economic crisis of their country.
In an interview in 2023 with the Vatican media, Prevost focused on the importance of evangelization to help the church to grow.
“We are often concerned about educational doctrine … but we risk forgetting that our first task is to teach what Jesus Christ means,” he said.
Prevost said at a Vatican press conference in 2023: “Our work consists in expanding the tent and letting everyone know that they are welcome inside the church.”
Prévost was born in 1955 and was a member of the Augustinian world religious order, which includes around 2,500 priests and brothers, operates in 50 countries and has a particular emphasis on a community and equality life among its members.
He holds a baccalaureate from the University of Villanova in Philadelphia, a master’s degree in the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, and a doctorate in law of the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquin in Rome.
Prevost went to Peru for the first time as a missionary in 1985, returning to the United States in 1999 to play a leadership role in his religious order.
He then moved to Rome to serve two six -year -old mandates at the head of the Augustins, visiting many communities of the order around the world. He is known for speaking English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.
Back in Rome in 2023, Prevost has generally not participated in many social events that attract the Vatican officials throughout the city.
Leon Angeles said he was a person with leadership skills, “but at the same time, he knows how to listen. He has this virtue.”
“Cardinal has courtesy to ask for an opinion, even if it is the simplest or most humble person,” she said. “He knows how to listen to everyone.”
– with additional Canadian press files