Pope Leo XIV
(OSV News photo/Claudia Greco, Reuters)
Statement from Archbishop Shelton J. Fabre
I want to extend my prayerful best wishes to Pope Leo XIV, the successor to St. Peter and Vicar of Christ. This is a historical and spiritual moment for the Catholic Church, and for the Church in America as he is the first pope born in the United States. The process of choosing the Holy Father was done with prayer and discernment by the cardinal electors who were led by the Holy Spirit. I rejoice in their decision, and I am filled with hope for the future of the Catholic Church.
I believe Pope Leo XIV will build on the ministry of his predecessors. In his first greeting as Supreme Pontifff, he said, “Peace be with you,” the words of Jesus Christ spoken on Easter morning. He then shared that he wants to build bridges, to dialogue and to be inclusive, which speaks to how he will lead the People of God.
Please join me in praying for Pope Leo XIV as he begins his new Petrine Ministry. May God grant him the strength and leadership to strengthen the unity of the Church and to advance peace in our world.
I invite you to join me for a Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Leo XIV on Monday, May 12 at 6 p.m. at the Cathedral of the Assumption. Together, we will lift up the Holy Father with our prayers as he starts his papacy.
Statement from Archbishop Emeritus Joseph Kurtz
With great joy I join with Catholics and all people of good will throughout the world in thanking God for the gift of our newly elected Pope Leo XIV. Born in Chicago and serving the Church as an Augustinian priest and pastoral Bishop, our Holy Father has been prepared well for the pastoral leadership and service as a successor of St. Peter. I came to know and befriend him during the Synod on Evangelization in October of 2012 when he served as a peritus (expert) and I as a delegate.. Together we formulated the summaries of the small English language group that was part of the proceedings of the Synod. Blessed with a welcoming spirit, he showed himself to be a humble, intelligent and very pastoral person. May Pope Leo XIV serve Christ and His people humbly and unselfishly and may the Holy Spirit inspire our Holy Father to lead and serve as the Vicar of Christ on earth.
Bio for Pope Leo XIV
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago (Illinois, United States). IN 1977 he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Saint Louis. On 29 August 1981 he gave his solemn vows. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, receiving a diploma in theology.
At the age of 27 he was sent by the Order to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University (Angelicum). He received priestly ordination on 19 June 1982. He received his licentiate in 1984, and was then sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru (1985-1986).
In 1987 he was awarded a doctorate with the thesis: “The role of the local prior in the Order of Saint Augustine”. In the same year he was elected director of vocations and director of the missions of the Augustinian province of “Mother of Good Counsel” of Olympia Fields, Illinois, United States of America. In 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian aspirants in the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurímac. There he served as community prior (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998) and teacher of the professed (1992-1998). In the archdiocese of Trujillo he was judicial vicar (1989-1998), and professor of canon, patristic and moral law in the “San Carlos e San Marcelo” Major Seminary.
In 1999 he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province, Chicago. After two and a half years, the ordinary general Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry again entrusted to him in the 2007 ordinary general Chapter. In October 2013 he returned to his province (Chicago) to serve as teacher of the professed and provincial vicar, roles he held 3 November 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, elevating him to the dignity of bishop and assigning him the titular diocese of Sufar. On 7 November he took canonical possession of the diocese in the presence of the apostolic nuncio James Patrick Green; he was ordained a bishop on 12 December, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the cathedral of his diocese. He served as bishop of Chiclayo from 26 November 2015. In March 2018 he became second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019, and member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.
On 15 April 2020, the Pope appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao.
On 30 January 2023 Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Prevost as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and presidet of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
On 6 February 2025, Pope Francis elevated Cardinal Prevost to Cardinal-Bishop within the College of Cardinals.
Created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 30 September 2023, of the Deaconry of Santa Monica.
Member of:
- The Dicasteries for: Evangelization, Section for first evangelization and the new particular Churches; the Doctrine of the Faith; the Eastern Churches; the Clergy; the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life; Culture and Education; Legislative Texts;
- The Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
