When, on the afternoon of May 8, the white smoke announced that the new Pope had been elected, a festive crowd flooded the Via della Conciliazione and the other streets near St. Peter's towards the Square. Soon a shout was heard, repeated at intervals: "Long live the Pope! Without yet knowing the name of the chosen one, many were already showing their attachment to the figure of the Pope. It was a truly moving testimony.
In fact, during the days preceding the conclave, speculations and speculations had been made, following the information of the press, not always well oriented. What is certain is that the successor of the Apostle Peter was being chosen, that Simon, son of Jonah, the stone on which the Lord Jesus built his Church and to whom he had given the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. On the Roman evening the Lord renews the promise: the power of hell will not defeat the Church (cf. Mt 16:18-19). And he also reiterates his invitation to the one chosen in love: Follow me and feed my sheep (cf. Jn 21:15-19). Successor, then, of the Apostle Peter, of his reality and mission.
Successor also to Pope Francis
We are not in the first century, but we are concluding the first quarter of the 21st century. The new Pope is the 267th in the series of Roman Pontiffs who have succeeded each other throughout history. There is a link between all of them. The new Pope comes after Francis, who came from the end of the world, who, from the Gospel, was committed to renewing the Church. The Pope of mercy, of "everyone, everyone", of attention to the peripheries and of preference for the discarded; the Pope of synodality and evangelization, of the "Church going forth"; the Pope of the strong denunciation of war and the commitment to peace; the Pope worn out in the midst of the people of God. His successor will have to take into account the context in which the Gospel is incarnated and know how to read the signs of this present time, with a hopeful look towards the future.
The conclave is both a human and spiritual event. The Pope is not elected by the Holy Spirit, as is sometimes mistakenly said, but by the cardinal electors who vote in the Sistine Chapel. However, they do so having invoked the Holy Spirit (this is the meaning of the chant of the Veni Creator). The electors acquire an enormous responsibility: to listen to the Spirit, to be a channel for his action and never to be a wall, to let him do his work through them. The words that each cardinal must pronounce aloud before casting his vote are impressive: "I bear witness to Christ the Lord, who is to judge me, that I choose whom, according to God, I consider should be chosen."
Four scrutinies were enough. The same that, in recent times, were needed for the election of Benedict XVI and of Blessed John Paul I. Of the last Popes, only Pius XII needed fewer ballots, three. Francis needed slightly more, five, and St. Paul VI, six. St. John Paul II needed eight and St. John XXIII eleven. The new Pope had been elected in a rapid conclave, which shows that he was a very strong candidate from the beginning and that very soon he achieved the necessary consensus to comfortably surpass the required two thirds, which were exactly eighty-nine votes, out of one hundred and thirty-three cardinal electors from seventy countries. The number of electors and the number of nations represented had never been so high.
An Augustinian at the service of the Church
Several Augustinians awaited the announcement from the windows of the Augustinian General Curia overlooking St. Peter's Square. A truly privileged place.
It was enough for the Cardinal Protodeacon, Mamberti, to pronounce the name ".Robertum Franciscum"We burst into shouts of joy, in the midst of great emotion. It could be none other than our Augustinian brother, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, until then Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and former Prior General of our Order. In fact, he was the new Pope. He had assumed the name Leo XIV.
I think it is impossible to express in words the accumulation of emotions that can fill the heart in such a circumstance. Two predominant ones, joy and gratitude.
Those of us who know him, know of the many virtues that adorn Robert Prevost (our brother Roberto), his preparation and vast experience. I sincerely believe that he is the right person to lead the Church at this time. Little by little you will get to know him and I am sure you will agree with me.
The new Pope appeared on the central balcony, the balcony of great occasions. He wore the vestments prescribed in the ritual. His gesture was affable and his emotion evident. He waved repeatedly, waving his hands. And he began to speak, reading a text he had prepared when he saw that his election was imminent. Here we already have a trait of his personality: he prepares conscientiously what he wants to say and how he wants to say it. He is thoughtful and precise. In his words, the keys to a whole program. The starting point is the risen Christ, with whose words he greeted the faithful: "Peace be with you all.". And then, the great axes: peace, love, mission. The touching reference to his roots ("I am a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian.") and the affectionate greeting to his former diocese of Chiclayo (Peru). Finally, the ecclesiological manifestation, the Church that desires: synodal, on the way and seeking: peace, charity and closeness to those who suffer. He concluded with a beautiful Marian reference and praying the Hail Mary with everyone.
The life of Robert F. Prevost
The main biographical lines of Papa Prevost are well known. He was born in Chicago (United States) on September 14, 1955, the youngest son of Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martinez. His older brothers are Louis Martin and John Joseph.
It is worth remembering the Spanish ancestry on his mother's side: both of the Pope's great-grandparents were Spaniards who emigrated to the United States in search of a better life. Although the origin has been attributed to various cities in Spain, it is not known with certainty. The memory was probably lost after two or three generations. His grandfather Joseph was born on the ship, during the voyage, and was registered in Santo Domingo, the first port where the ship docked before continuing the voyage to the United States. Hence the misconception that his grandfather was born in the Dominican Republic. His father's family, also an emigrant, came from the south of France and had Italian roots.
The Prevost were very well integrated in the parish of St. Mary of the AssumptionThey were actively involved in the life of the parish community, becoming a reference point for the parish community. Their religiosity was far removed from a stark "spiritualism" and was oriented more towards participation and commitment. They also instilled in their children the practice of prayer and the communitarian sense of the Christian faith. The pious and disciplined Robert studied mathematics at Villanova University, graduating in 1977. He entered the Order of St. Augustine, taking simple vows in 1978 and solemn vows in 1981. His superiors sent him to Rome where, on June 19, 1982, he was ordained a priest at the International College of St. Monica by Archbishop Jean Jadot, pro-president of the Secretariat for Non-Christians. In 1984 he obtained a licentiate in Canon Law and returned to the United States.
Governance, training and education
One of the great turning points in his life took place in 1985, when he was sent to the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas (Peru), where he deepened the missionary spirit that has always characterized him. In 1987 he obtained his doctorate in Canon Law with a thesis on "The Missionary Spirit".The Role of the Local Prior in the Order of St. Augustine"He was appointed vocation director and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago. In 1988 he returned to Peru, where he remained until 1999. He assumed various responsibilities in the diocese of Trujillo, where he was judicial vicar and professor in the seminary; also in the Augustinian vicariate he held the positions of prior, formator and professor. At the same time he developed his pastoral activity in the parishes of Santa Rita and Nuestra Señora de Montserrat. Already then the three axes of his activity were outlined: government, formation and teaching, always with an evident missionary spirit.
In 1999 he was elected Prior Provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago and in 2001, a few days after the attack on the Twin Towers, he was elected Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine, a post to which he was re-elected in 2007. His government was characterized by closeness and "on the ground" knowledge. He visited all the communities that the Order has in the five continents to get to know the religious and talk to them. A man of listening, not imposing and tending to harmony and unity, he also proved to be an excellent manager and man of government, who knew how to make the necessary decisions.
In 2013, at the end of his last term as Prior General, he returned to Chicago where he was appointed vicar provincial and in charge of formation at St. Augustine Friary. He stayed only a short time. Pope Francis and Robert Prevost had known each other since Bergoglio was archbishop of Buenos Aires. He always manifested great confidence in the Augustinian. On November 3, 2014, he appointed him apostolic administrator of Chiclayo (Peru) and titular bishop of Sufar, receiving episcopal ordination on December 12 of the same year, with Archbishop James Patrick Green, apostolic nuncio in Peru, being the main ordaining priest. On September 26, 2015, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo. The eight long years of Bishop Prevost's episcopate as residential bishop were characterized by closeness to the people, social involvement, care for formation and commitment to unity.
When, in January 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America, he celebrated a farewell Eucharist in the cathedral of Chiclayo on April 9. Addressing his diocesans, he spoke to them from the heart: "As I said that first day when a journalist called me to ask how I felt about being appointed by the Holy Father to this new mission, this new assignment as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, what was spontaneously born in my heart was precisely that I am a missionary; I have come sent, I have been with you and with much joy during these eight years and five months. But, now, the Holy Spirit, through our Pope Francis, tells me a new mission. And although it may be difficult for many, we must go forward, we must respond to the Lord, we must say yes Lord, if you have called me I will respond. I ask for your prayers. I ask that you go forward as a Church.. Indeed, if the Lord calls, he answers. Without hesitation. And he has demonstrated this throughout his life.
He was created cardinal in the consistory of September 30, 2023. He was assigned the newly created deaconry of St. Monica. As the first cardinal of that consistory, he addressed a greeting to the Holy Father on behalf of all, with a significant synodal reference: "Beyond the search for new pastoral programs or models, which are always necessary and important, I believe we must increasingly understand that the Church is only fully so when it truly listens, when it walks as God's new people in its wonderful diversity, continually rediscovering its own baptismal call to contribute to the spread of the Gospel and the Kingdom of God.". His reasonableness, ability to listen and involvement in his work, as well as his simplicity and cordiality, made him highly respected by those who knew him and also in the sometimes complicated environment of the Roman Curia. On February 6, 2025, Pope Francis gave him a new public token of appreciation by appointing him cardinal bishop of the title of the suburban Church of Albano. The inauguration was set for Monday, May 12. But it did not take place. A few days earlier the Lord had asked him to be the successor of Peter. And he accepted without hesitation. As a choice of love and with full confidence.
What will Leo XIV's pontificate be like?
We cannot predict the future. But Pope Prevost has already outlined some guidelines. The first is the centrality of the Risen Christ. He said this in his homily during the Eucharist at the beginning of his Petrine ministry on May 18: We want to say to the world, with humility and joy: "Look to Christ, draw near to him, accept his Word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his proposal of love to form his one family: in the one Christ we are one". This leads him to take special care of unity, indeed, communion in the Church, which is his first great desire: "a united Church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world".". This will only be possible if we assume love as the axis of our life. "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another." (Jn 13:35). He also indicated it in the first greeting: "God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail. We are all in God's hands. [Christ goes before us. The world needs his light. Humanity needs him as a bridge to be reached by God and by his love". Hence, as a consequence, the insistent demand for "to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, uniting all of us to be one people always in peace".
A second line is the development of the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, especially as expressed in the Constitutions of the Council. Lumen gentium y Gaudium et spes. He emphasized this in his address to the cardinals on May 10, when, referring to the apostolic exhortation Evangelii gaudium of Pope Francis, highlighted some of its fundamental notes: the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation (cf. n. 11); the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community (cf. n. 9); the growth in collegiality and synodality (cf. n. 33); the attention to the sensus fidei (cf. nn. 119-120), especially in its most proper and inclusive forms, such as popular piety (cf. n. 123); loving care for the weak and discarded (cf. n. 53); courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world in its different components and realities (cf. n. 84).
In the first greeting I had already said: "we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer".
The third line is social and missionary involvement. It springs from the Gospel that enters into history. Hence the need to consider the geographical and cultural contexts and the urgency of knowing how to read the signs of our times. The name chosen as pontiff is already a whole program. He said it in the aforementioned speech to the cardinals: "I thought of taking the name Leo XIV. There are several reasons, but the main one is because Pope Leo XIII, with the historical Encyclical Rerum novarum faced the social question in the context of the first great industrial revolution and today the Church offers to all, her patrimony of social doctrine to respond to another industrial revolution and to the developments of artificial intelligence, which bring new challenges in the defense of human dignity, justice and work".. This also includes the commitment to peace, which has been a constant in the Pope's texts, such as the demanding and clear speech of May 16 to the diplomatic corps, which I invite you to read in its entirety. The Pope has also referred on various occasions to another essential aspect of the task of evangelization. I would like to cite, by way of example, his May 22 address to the Pontifical Mission Societies. In it he made precise reference to the fact that "becoming aware of our communion as members of the Body of Christ naturally opens us to the universal dimension of the Church's evangelizing mission, and inspires us to go beyond the confines of our own parishes, dioceses and nations, to share with every nation and people the superabundant richness of the knowledge of Jesus Christ." (cf. Phil 3:8).
He begins a pontificate that will mark an epoch. Knowing Robert Prevost for many years, with whom I share an Augustinian vocation and charism, I am certain that Leo XIV will be a great Pope, who will guide the Church with a firm and loving hand; a sure leader for the world in these troubled times; a companion on the road, a serene pastor, a man of God. It is with great joy that I note how well accepted he is and the enthusiasm he arouses. We must all assure him of the support of our prayers and the closeness of our affection.
Undersecretary of the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops.
