Who is Pope Leo XIV? The Chicago-born baseball lover who made history as first US pope
From an altar boy growing up in a working class area of Chicago, Robert Prevost, 69, has worked his way through the ranks to become the first US pope to be elected in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. But his election has caused "grave concern" for some.
Friday 9 May 2025 16:50, UK
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, has come a long way since his years as an altar boy in a working class area of Chicago. From "playing priest" to being appointed cardinal by the late Pope Francis, we take a look at where the new pontiff hails from.
The 69-year-old cardinal was born in Chicago and spent many years in Peru, where he is remembered as the saintly missionary who, in order to bring help to those in need, waded his way through mud as the region was struck by floods in 2022.
Speaking to Sky News' US partner network NBC, Louis Prevost, who is one of Pope Leo's older brothers, said: "I'm almost speechless, it's just mind-blowing that my brother was elected pope today [Thursday].
"We've kind of known he was special and we used to tease him about being pope when he was six years old..."
According to John Prevost, the Pope's other brother, Leo had known he wanted to be a priest ever since he was a child.
Follow live updates: New pope elected
The new pope, who was elected on Thursday, was so devoted to the cause that one mother who lived on their street in the working class area of Dolton, Illinois, told him when he was in kindergarten or first grade that she believed he would be the first US-born pope.
"You know how some kids like to play war, and be soldiers, and some girls want to play dolls, and be housewives? He wanted to play priest,"
"We went to mass, and he knew everything. He knew the prayers in Latin, he knew his prayers in English, and he did that all the time. He took it totally serious.
"It was not a joke, it was not a game. He was dead serious about it. Isn't that interesting?"
But according to John, the Pope, who is a fan of Wordle and the Chicago White Sox baseball team, had always only ever wanted to be a missionary.
He didn't want to be a bishop or a cardinal, let alone the next leader of the 1.4bn-strong Catholic Church.
His unwillingness to be pontiff, however, is what makes John confident his brother will be great in his new role.
John expects Leo to be a "second Pope Francis" as he added in an interview with AP: "He's not going to be real far-left and he's not going to be real far-right.
"Kind of right down the middle."
Where was Leo before the papacy?
He was made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023 and appointed head of the dicastery for bishops, a powerful position responsible for selecting new bishops.
Significantly, he presided over one of Francis's most revolutionary reforms when he added three women to the voting bloc which decides on the bishop nominations sent to the Pope.
As cardinal, he said little on key issues of the Church, but some of his positions are known.
Pope Leo is reportedly very close to Francis's vision regarding the environment, outreach to the poor and migrants.
He said in 2024 "the bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom".
He also supported Pope Francis's stance on allowing divorced and remarried Catholics to receive Holy Communion.
However, he only showed mild support for Francis allowing priests to bless same-sex couples.
Criticism of Trump administration
In regards to migration, back in April when US President Donald Trump met El Salvador's leader about using a notorious prison for suspected US gang members, he shared a post on social media stating: "Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?"
He previously shared posts that were critical of the Trump administration, including in February sharing an opinion piece which chastised the US vice president JD Vance as wrong about some aspects of Christian teaching.
"JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others," the post stated.
He also shared an article criticising Mr Vance's justification of the Trump administration's mass deportation plans.
What is the Pope's experience?
Pope Leo has years of experience in leadership roles within the church.
He was twice elected to the top position of the Augustinian religious order and Francis clearly had an eye on his progress - moving him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014, where he served as administrator and later Archbishop of Chiclayo.
He acquired Peruvian citizenship in 2015 and remained in Chiclayo until 2023, when Francis brought him to Rome.
While there has long been a taboo against a US pope - given the geopolitical power the US already wields - Leo was being promoted as a "compromise candidate" ahead of the conclave.
The amount of time he has spent in Peru also allowed him to be seen as a more universal candidate.
Read more:
The tasks in the new pope's in-tray
What does the new pope's name mean?
Controversies
The new pontiff has faced allegations of failing to take action against priests accused of sex abuse.
SNAP, a US-based advocacy group for victims of clerical sex abuse, expressed "grave concern" about his election, renewing accusations that he failed to take action against suspected predatory priests in the past in Chicago and in Peru.
In 2023, survivors of clergy sex abuse filed a complaint with the Vatican over Prevost and others after the Chicago-based chapter of the Augustinian order that Prevost once led paid a $2 million settlement over rape accusations by a priest whose name was left off a public list of sex offenders.
"You can end the abuse crisis - the only question is, will you?" SNAP said in a statement addressed to Pope Leo following his election as the new pontiff.
In an interview with the Vatican News website in 2023, he said the Church must be transparent and honest in
dealing with abuse allegations.
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