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A structured, sourced profile of the 267th pope: biography, career, languages, and where he stands on the questions that define his pontificate.
Last updated August 2026
Robert Francis Prevost was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of three sons of Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. He grew up on the city's South Side and served as an altar boy in his home parish.
He studied at an Augustinian minor seminary and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, graduating in 1977 with a degree in mathematics. He completed a Master of Divinity at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and was sent to Rome for graduate studies in canon law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum), earning a licentiate in 1984 and a doctorate in 1987.
Prevost entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and professed solemn vows in 1981. He was elected Prior General — the worldwide head of the order — in 2001 and served two six-year terms until 2013, based in Rome and travelling widely to Augustinian communities. His papal motto, In Illo uno unum, is taken from a sermon of Saint Augustine on Christian unity.
He first went to Peru in 1985, serving in the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas in the Piura region. After a short return to the United States he moved to Trujillo, where for roughly a decade he directed the Augustinian formation house and taught canon law, also serving the local archdiocese as judicial vicar.
Peru is central to his biography. He spent about three decades there in total, became a naturalised citizen in 2015, and is fluent in Peruvian Spanish. He was elected second vice-president of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference. He frequently draws on this experience when speaking about migration, poverty and the Church in Latin America.
Pope Francis named him Apostolic Administrator of Chiclayo in 2014 and Bishop in 2015; he led the northern Peruvian diocese until 2023. During his tenure the diocese faced scrutiny over its handling of abuse allegations against local clergy; the diocese said it followed canonical procedure, and accounts of the response differ.
In 2023 Pope Francis called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops — the office that assesses candidates for the episcopate worldwide — and as President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. He was created a cardinal on 30 September 2023.
Following the death of Pope Francis on 21 April 2025, the conclave elected Cardinal Prevost on 8 May 2025, on the fourth ballot and the second day of voting. He appeared on the central loggia of St Peter's, greeted the crowd with “Peace be with you all,” and imparted the blessing Urbi et Orbi. His inauguration Mass followed on 18 May 2025, and he took possession of the Basilica of St John Lateran on 25 May 2025.
In his address to the College of Cardinals on 10 May 2025, he said the name honours Leo XIII, whose 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum founded modern Catholic social teaching in response to the industrial revolution. He presented artificial intelligence and automation as a comparable challenge to human dignity and labour. He dated his first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas, to the 135th anniversary of Rerum novarum.
Recurring themes of the pontificate include the ethics of technology, peace and diplomacy, migration, care for creation, synodality, unity among Christians, and closeness to the poor. The topic pages below collect statements with dates and sources.
His signature concern. His first encyclical, Magnifica humanitas (25 May 2026), argues that AI must safeguard the human person, serve the common good and not concentrate power. See What does Pope Leo XIV say about Artificial Intelligence?
From his first appearance he has appealed for peace, and he has repeatedly called for ceasefires, humanitarian access and negotiation, offering the Holy See's help. His November–December 2025 journey to Turkey and Lebanon foregrounded these themes. See Peace, Ukraine and Gaza.
He has affirmed the environmental teaching of Laudato si' and stresses the disproportionate burden borne by poorer nations. See Climate Change.
An Augustinian whose motto is about unity, he has made ecumenism and the synodal process priorities. Marking the 1,700th anniversary of the First Council of Nicaea with Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew I in İznik was a centrepiece of his first foreign trip.
Robert Francis Prevost is born in Chicago, Illinois, the youngest of three sons of Louis and Mildred Prevost.
Earns a mathematics degree from Villanova University and enters the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine.
Prevost is ordained to the priesthood as an Augustinian.
Joins the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, Piura, beginning decades of ministry in Peru.
For about a decade he directs the Augustinian formation house in Trujillo and teaches canon law, also serving as diocesan judicial vicar.
Leads the worldwide Augustinian order for two six-year terms, until 2013, based in Rome.
After a year as Apostolic Administrator, Prevost is confirmed as Bishop of Chiclayo; he also becomes a naturalised Peruvian citizen.
Pope Francis calls Prevost to Rome to lead the office that advises the pope on bishop appointments worldwide.
Pope Francis makes Prevost a cardinal in a consistory.
Pope Francis dies aged 88, opening the vacancy that leads to the 2025 conclave.
In the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you! My dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome to all of you! I joyfully greet all of you, delegates from the groups of Jesus Youth present in many parts of the world, and I likewise greet the bishops, the priests and…
In the name of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Peace be with you. Your Eminences, Your Excellencies, Brothers and sisters, I am very pleased to extend my greetings to you, Rector, Dean, professors and lecturers, students and friends, who are taking part in the International Conference marking…
Distinguished members of the American Jewish Committee , It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Vatican on this day when the Church remembers in a special way my beloved predecessor, Saint John Paul II , whose efforts contributed so greatly to fostering the friendship between Jews and Catholics. Addressing the…
My dear young friends , Today, as registration opens for next year’s World Youth Day, I warmly invite each of you to Seoul. This is not merely an invitation to see a new city. It is a call to set out on a pilgrimage of faith, friendship and hope. A pilgrimage gives you the chance not only to discover Christian sites…
Catechesis. The Documents of the Second Vatican Council . IV. Constitution Gaudium et Spes. 6. Commitment to the family in today’s society (GS, 47–52) Dear brothers and sisters, good morning and welcome! The first think I would like to say is thank you!. Thank you for the support of your prayers. Thanks…
Dear brothers and sisters, happy Sunday! The Gospel proclaimed in today’s liturgy ( Mt 22:15-21) presents us with one of Jesus’ best-known sayings: “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (cf. v. 21). For this reason, it is important to consider…
Pope Leo XIV is the 267th pope of the Roman Catholic Church, elected on 8 May 2025. Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, he is the first US-born pope, an Augustinian friar who spent decades in Peru as a missionary and Bishop of Chiclayo, and previously led the Vatican's Dicastery for Bishops.
Pope Leo XIV was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago. He turns 71 on 14 September 2026, and is 70 for most of that year. He was 69 at the time of his election on 8 May 2025.
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, Illinois, in the United States, on 14 September 1955. He is the first pope born in the United States. He also holds Peruvian citizenship, which he acquired in 2015.
Yes. Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago and is the first US-born pope. He is also a naturalised citizen of Peru, where he spent much of his ministry, so he holds both American and Peruvian citizenship.
He told the cardinals on 10 May 2025 that he chose 'Leo' after Pope Leo XIII, whose 1891 encyclical Rerum novarum addressed the social crisis of the industrial revolution. Leo XIV casts artificial intelligence and automation as a comparable challenge to human dignity and work.
Yes. Pope Leo XIV is fluent in Spanish after decades living and working in Peru, and often uses it publicly. He also speaks English, Italian, French and Portuguese, and reads Latin and German.
Yes, for much of his adult life. He first went to Peru as an Augustinian missionary in 1985, taught and served in Trujillo through the 1990s, and was Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023. He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.
Pope Leo XIV lives in the papal apartments of the Apostolic Palace in Vatican City. He resumed the traditional papal residence, which Pope Francis had declined in favour of the Casa Santa Marta guesthouse.
LeoPope links to primary and official texts wherever they exist. See our sources policy.
Social issues
His first apostolic exhortation, Dilexi te (October 2025), on love for the poor, was begun by Pope Francis and completed by Leo XIV. On the economy, family, young people and interreligious relations, coverage on LeoPope is organised by topic.