What will we learn about Robert Prevost, the brand new Pope?

[ad_1] Robert Prevost, the selection of the world's Catholic cardinals to function chief of the 1.4-billion-member Church, is the primary Pope from america and a relative unknown on the worldwide stage.

Aged 69 and initially from Chicago, Prevost has spent most of his profession as a missionary in Peru and have become a cardinal solely in 2023. He has given few media interviews.

He takes the papal title Leo XIV, and succeeds Pope Francis, who had led the Church since 2013.

In his first phrases as Pope, from the central balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, Leo stated, "Peace be with you all," addressing a cheering crowd in fluent Italian. He additionally spoke in Spanish throughout his transient handle however didn't say something in English.

Leo thanked Francis in his speech and repeated his predecessor's name for a church that's engaged with the trendy world and "is at all times on the lookout for peace, charity and being near individuals, particularly those that are struggling." He emphasised a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization.

In contrast to Francis, who spurned a lot of the trimmings of the papacy, Prevost wore a conventional pink papal garment over his white cassock.

WATCH | Who's Pope Leo XIV?: The Nationwide explores the lifetime of Pope Leo XIV — a 69-year-old cardinal born in Chicago, additionally a citizen of Peru, identified for his dedication to the poor and for being the primary American pope within the Catholic Church’s historical past. Good friend says Prevost supported Pope Francis Rev. Mark Francis, a buddy of Prevost for the reason that Nineteen Seventies, advised Reuters the cardinal was a agency supporter of his predecessor's papacy, and particularly of the late pontiff's dedication to social justice points.

"He was at all times pleasant and heat and remained a voice of widespread sense and sensible issues for the Church's outreach to the poor," stated Francis, who attended seminary with Prevost and later knew him once they each lived in Rome within the 2000s.

"He has a wry sense of humour, however was not somebody who sought the limelight," stated Francis, who leads the U.S. province of the Viatorian spiritual order.

Prevost first served as a bishop in Chiclayo, in northwestern Peru, from 2015 to 2023, and have become a Peruvian citizen in 2015, so he has twin nationalities.

Pope Francis introduced him to Rome that yr to go the Vatican workplace in control of selecting which clergymen ought to function Catholic bishops throughout the globe, that means he has had a hand in choosing lots of the world's bishops.

Whereas U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice-President JD Vance have been fast to congratulate the brand new Pope Thursday, Prevost's views could put him at odds with the administration.

Simply Asking desires to know: What questions do you may have concerning the new Pope and what his election may imply for the way forward for the Catholic Church? Fill out the main points on this type and ship us your questions forward of our present on Could 10. In February, responding to Vance's suggestion that there are totally different hierarchies of Christian love — household, then nation, then the remainder of the world — Prevost posted on X, "JD Vance is fallacious: Jesus would not ask us to rank our love for others." He additionally shared an article that month that was vital of present U.S. immigration insurance policies.

Again in 2017, throughout Trump's first time period as president, he shared a submit from a Jesuit priest that was vital of banning Syrian refugees. "What an immoral nation we have gotten. Jesus weeps," the submit reads.

Prevost addressed immigration in an August 2024 speech posted on YouTube.

"There's bought to be a manner each to resolve the issue but in addition to deal with individuals with respect," he stated. "Each considered one of us — whether or not we have been born in america of America or on the North Pole — all of us are provided that present of being created the picture and likeness of God. And the day we neglect that may be a day we neglect who we're. We neglect who Christ has known as us to be."

Jesus Leon Angeles, co-ordinator of a Catholic group in Chiclayo who has identified Prevost since 2018, known as him a "quite simple" one that would exit of his manner to assist others.

Leon Angeles stated Prevost had proven particular concern for Venezuelan migrants in Peru, saying, "He's an individual who likes to assist." Greater than 1.5 million Venezuelans have moved to Peru lately, partly to flee their nation's financial disaster.

WATCH | A divided church and monetary woes await Pope Leo XIV: A divided church and monetary woes await Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV was launched to cheering crowds in St. Peter’s Sq., however the brand new pontiff must face a number of challenges, from the monetary points surrounding the Vatican to a church that continues to be divided over whether or not and the way a lot it wants to vary. In a 2023 interview with the Vatican's information outlet, Prevost centered on the significance of evangelization to assist the Church develop.

"We are sometimes preoccupied with educating doctrine ... however we danger forgetting that our first job is to show what it means to know Jesus Christ," he stated.

Prevost stated throughout a 2023 Vatican press convention, "Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everybody know they're welcome contained in the Church."

Pope praised for management, listening expertise Prevost was born in 1955 and is a member of the worldwide Augustinian spiritual order, which incorporates about 2,500 clergymen and brothers, operates in 50 nations and has a particular concentrate on a lifetime of group and equality amongst its members.

He has a bachelor's diploma from Villanova College in Philadelphia, a grasp's from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a doctorate in Church legislation from the Pontifical Faculty of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Prevost first went to Peru as a missionary in 1985, returning to america in 1999 to take up a management position in his spiritual order.

He later moved to Rome to serve two six-year phrases as head of the Augustinians, visiting lots of the order's communities the world over. He's identified to talk English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Returning to Rome in 2023, Prevost typically didn't participate in lots of the social occasions that appeal to Vatican officers all through the town.

Leon Angeles stated he's an individual with management expertise, "however on the identical time, he is aware of how you can hear. He has that advantage."