Pope Leo XIV, who worked in Peru, is first American Pope
Cardinal Robert Prevost, an American missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and leads the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first American pope in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church.
Prevost, 69, took the name Pope Leo XIV.
About the new Pope.
American Cardinal Robert Prevost was announced as the 267th pontiff. He chose the name Leo XIV, a senior cardinal deacon announced.
The 69-year-old Chicago native is the first American pope and is seen as a diplomat in the church.
“This is the first greeting of the risen Christ. May the peace be with you,” Leo said in Italian in his first remarks as pope. “This is the peace of the risen Christ.”
‘The greatest moment in the history of the greatest city,’ Chicago mayor says:
The 69-year-old, born on the Southside of Chicago, is seen as a diplomat of the church and was an important adviser to his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson called Prevost’s selection “the greatest moment in the history of the greatest city,” highlighting that the new pope was “born in Chicago, educated in Chicago, came back and served this city.”
Johnson praised the new pope, saying he “recognizes and understands the value of immigration.” The last pope to be named Leo, XIII, was known as the “Pope of Labor,” and Johnson called Chicago the most pro-worker city in America.
Like the mayor, the new pope is reportedly a Chicago Cubs fan. Johnson said Chicagoans to tend to “take some partisanship,” as “everyone has to know exactly who to root for — but today, the world is rooting for Pope Leo.”.
Chicago to Peru:
He lived for two decades in Peru as a missionary, priest, teacher and eventually a bishop — a role for which he became a naturalized citizen of Peru.
Prevost led a diocese in Chiclayo, in a region of the country where flooding is common. He would often deliver food and other supplies to remote areas himself, sometimes carrying bags of rice on his back, one priest told my colleague Genevieve Glatsky.
New pope led order dedicated to the poor and service:
The new pope was formerly the prior general, or leader, of the Order of St. Augustine, formed in the 13th century as a community of “mendicant” friars dedicated to poverty, service and evangelization.
