New Catholic Pope Leo XIV
Vatican City, May 8 (EFE).- By Gonzalo Sánchez
Robert Francis Prevost Martinez, Augustinian, Cardinal Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Affable, moderate and reserved was elected Pope on Thursday; he will take on the name Leo XIV.
This missionary of the ancient Order of Saint Augustine, who also has Peruvian nationality, was a close collaborator of the late Pope Francis in recent years.
He discreetly entered the list of possible Popes for this conclave as an “outsider” among prominent names.
Prevost’s moderate disposition placed him as a bridge between the conservative and reformist factions of the Church, and his extensive knowledge of America earned him the support of cardinals from both the south and north of the continent.
He was born in Chicago, United States, in 1955. His ecclesiastical career began at the Augustinian novitiate in Saint Louis, where he took his vows in 1981. He studied theology and canon law in Rome.
After his ordination in 1982 at the age of 28, he was sent to his second country, Peru, to the mission of the Chulucanas in Piura (1985-1986).
This would be the first step of a long journey in Latin America, which would continue in 1988 in the Peruvian mission of Trujillo, where he would carry out several functions for 10 years.
Prevost also has experience as a teacher and as Prior General of the Augustinian Chapter of Chicago.
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian diocese of Chiclayo from Rome.
As of 2025, Francis appointed him Bishop of Chiclayo, and since 2018, he has been second vice-president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference, facing, among other serious crises, the abuses of the group Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, dissolved by Pope Francis in 2025.
In 2023, the pontiff called him to Rome to make him a cardinal and designated him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, the Vatican office that chooses monsignors.
At the head of this powerful institution, which controls a vast network of prelates (high-ranking members in the Christian religion) around the world.
He also witnessed his mentor, Pope Francis, struggle with Catholic conservatives, like US Bishop Joseph Strickland, dismissed for disloyalty to the Holy See in November 2011.
Francis also appointed him president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Through his work, Prevost keeps in touch with the Church hierarchy worldwide, especially in America, where half the world’s Catholics live.
At the magisterial level, he has expressed himself, albeit cautiously, in line with Pope Francis, defending the idea of a clergy “close to the people.”
Regarding the abuse scandals that have hit the Church in recent years and which the Argentine pontiff had to face, Prevost has insisted on his duty “to be transparent and to accompany the victims.” EFE gsm/dgp/mcd
