Who is the American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost elected Pope Léon XIV

“Peace be with you!” I would like this greeting of peace to enter your hearts, to join your families, all people, wherever they are, all peoples, all the earth. It is the peace of resurrected Christ, a disarmed and disarming, humble and persevering peace. She comes from God, from this God who loves us all unconditionally. ” The first words of Pope Leo XIV, pronounced with confidence after he dominated his emotion in front of the crowd which acclaimed him, resonate in coherence with his rich journey.

The 267th successor of Saint Peter is called in civilian Robert Francis Prevost. Citizen of the United States aged 69, he was born in Chicago, a great industrial city of Illinois, a father of French and Italian origin, and a mother of Spanish origin. He has two brothers.

A above all vocation of Augustinian missionary

His trajectory of Augustinian religious sketches the portrait of a disciple of Christ, attentive pastor, experienced missionary, spiritual nourished at the school of Saint Augustine. And close to the late Pope.

Like François, Léon XIV chose religious life, received his theological training there, and exercised important responsibilities there before becoming bishop. At 22, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine, completed a math license, begins theology studies which lead him to Rome. François dreamed of being a missionary in Japan, Léon XIV was, in northern Peru, where he spent two years, aged 30.

This brief experience in a remote territory, in contact with poor populations, deeply marks it. Back in Rome, he obtained a doctorate in canon law. The young priest then returned to the United States where he was elected director of vocations and missions for the province of his order. The following year (1988), it was again required for the Mission of Peru, this time further south, in the big city of Trujillo, on the edge of the Pacific Ocean. There, he accumulated for ten years the functions of community manager, teaching (canonical law, patristic, moral), judicial vicar for the diocese, with the pastoral charge of a parish in the poor outskirts of the city.

A unit profile

In 1998, he was elected provincial superior of the Augustins of Midwest, and returned to Chicago to exercise his charge. In 2001, the general chapter of the Augustinians elected the general general, superior of the order worldwide, during a twenty -minute election, the fastest in their history. He remains in this position for two terms until 2013, then became briefly director of studies of the Saint-Augustin priory in Chicago.

In November 2014, return to the Peruvian coast: the very recent Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, halfway from the two localities where he previously lived. The Augustinian religious had been spotted years ago by Jorge Bergoglio, then Archbishop of Buenos Aires. He received the episcopal consecration before being chosen as a new bishop in 2015.

His episcopal motto, “in illelo unum – in him (Christ) We are a” expresses the beating heart of his faith: working in communion in Christ from diversity. A note heard in his words since the loggia of Saint-Pierre. He became one of the vice-presidents of the Episcopal Conference of Peru in 2018, when the Church in Peru recommends the dissolution of the Sodalicio Apostolic Life Society, a conservative movement of which members abused dozens of minors. The dissolution was pronounced last January by Pope Francis. As a prefect of the bishop’s dicastery, a significant charge to which François appointed him in January 2020, Robert Francis Prevost participated in the dismissal of Archbishop José Antonio Eguren, member of Sodalicio found guilty of complicity in the scandal.

In July 2023, Mgr Prevost was created Cardinal. Before the conclave, it was questioned by the American organization Snap (Survivors Network of Those Abused by Prests: network of victims abused by priests) in two cases. When he was superior provincial of his order, Father PREVOST “allowed a priest then accused of abuse on minors and whose ministry had been limited since 1991, to reside at the Augustinian convent of St. John Stone in Chicago, in 2000, despite his proximity to a Catholic primary school.”

The organization also accuses Léon XIV, when he was bishop of Chiclayo, of not having followed a complaint of victims: “Three victims addressed to the civil authorities in 2022, because their canonical file filed with the diocese had not evolved. The victims since affirmed that Mgr Prevost had not opened an investigation, that he had sent inadequate information to Rome and that the diocese had allowed the priest to continue to say mass, “said the organization.

A Polyglot Defender of Peace

Leon XIV has a rich international experience. Besides English, he speaks French, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. As priority for the Augustinian order, he supervised religious on a mission in around fifty countries in America, Africa, Asia and Europe. As a prefect of the bishops dicastery, he has been associated with all the appointments of Catholic bishops in the past five years. “He is someone with a big balance, capable of seeing things from very different angles (…) he will tirelessly work in peace,” assures the cross the Father Luciano de Michelis, who was one of his advisers at the head of the Augustine order.
Questioned in 2020 about his way of relaxing, Mgr Prevost had appointed, with the tennis which he already regretted not being able to practice, travel and the meeting of different people.

There is no doubt that Léon XIV, who presented himself as a bridges builder, will take up the inheritance of François by going to the outskirts of this world, on the one hand, and by encouraging a synodal church “which opens the dialogue”, on the other hand.