“The greatest among you shall be your servant.” (Mt 23:11)
On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church in the fourth ballot by the 133 cardinal electors. The 69-year-old, born in Chicago, joined the Augustinian Order in 1977. With his election, following Francis, another religious has become Pope. Prevost spent many years as a missionary and educator in Peru and was granted Peruvian citizenship in 2015, the same year he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo.
Since 2023, he led the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome and chaired the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In this role, he played a major part in appointing bishops worldwide. Prevost is the first American to become Pope. He chose the name Leo XIV and emphasized peace, dialogue, and responsibility in his first speech. His episcopal motto was: “In Christ, we who are many are one.”
Praise came from Fr. Rogério Gomes, C.Ss.R., Superior General of the Redemptorists, who saw the election as a sign of a missionary Church: “After a Jesuit, now an Augustinian—once again a religious with a different perspective. His strong ties to Latin America and his simple, human language may inspire a new generation.” Gomes was moved by the new Pope’s opening words: open, approachable, and meaningful.
