Child Neighbor Spotted Pope-like Figure in Robert Prevost's Youth
On Thursday evening, Robert Francis Prevost will emerge as Pope Leo XIV. His brother John watches on TV, flooded with memories.
With Pope Leo XIV's election, John Prevost becomes the brother of the Pope. For him, it's a mix of shock and expected, for Robert had always yearned to be a priest. John Prevost told ABC News, standing outside their home in New Lenox, Illinois. They're siblings, John in the middle, and Louis the eldest.
"He always had a feeling for it. I don't think he ever doubted it. I don't think he ever pondered anything else," John Prevost said, speaking of his brother's career choice. As a kid, Pope Leo XIV would "pretend to be a priest," John Prevost told CBS. "He'd take our mother's ironing board, drape it with a tablecloth, and we had to go to church," Prevost reminisced. His youngest brother played his role with intense devotion, knowing prayers in both Latin and English.
Neighbor's prophecy
A woman who lived on the same street as the Prevost family once told young John Prevost in first grade that he would become the first American Pope. Born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Prevost joined a minuscule Augustinian seminary in St. Louis as a teenager. He later received his degree in mathematics from Villanova University in Philadelphia, an Augustinian university. After completing his theology degree in Chicago and earning his doctorate in canon law in Rome, he headed to the Augustinians in Peru in 1985.
Unbelievable reality
John Prevost said he last spoke to Robert on Tuesday before the cardinals secluded themselves for the secret conclave. They've been close since childhood and still communicate daily. He told him he thought he might become the first American Pope. His brother dismissed it as "nonsense" and "mere talk," saying, "They won't elect an American Pope," John Prevost recalled. "He neither believed it nor wanted to believe it."
A compassionate Pope
When his brother stepped out as the newly selected Pope Leo XIV onto St. Peter's Square, John Prevost watched the spectacle live on TV. "I received a call that white smoke was billowing from the chimney in Rome, so I descended and switched on the TV," Prevost told the Associated Press. He was taken aback and skeptical but also proud of his brother's election. "It's a heavy burden," Prevost said. When asked about the kind of Pope his brother will be, Prevost informed the AP, "I think he has a strong interest in the plight of the downtrodden, the oppressed, those without a voice." On Friday, John Prevost plans to travel to Rome to join the Vatican celebrations. Then he will meet his brother once more: as Pope Leo XIV.
Source: ntv.de, sba
- Vatican
- USA
- Pope Francis
Additional Information- Family Background: Robert Prevost hails from a family with French and Italian roots, potentially shaping his cultural and religious upbringing.- Education: Prevost schooled at an Augustinian minor seminary in Michigan and later got his Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Villanova University. Finally, he studied theology in Chicago and earned his doctorate in canon law in Rome.- Career: Prevost devoted over a decade to missionary work in South America before assuming various leadership roles within the Augustinian Order, including prior general and bishop in Chiclayo, Peru. In 2023, he became the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
- The European Union and the United States might take note of Pope Leo XIV's administration, given his expressed interest in aiding the oppressed and voiceless.
- Contrary to his neighbor's prophecy when he was in first grade, it was Robert Prevost's youngest brother, John, who witnessed the elevation of his brother to the papacy as Pope Leo XIV.
- During his childhood, Pope Leo XIV, then known as Robert Prevost, demonstrated his future religious aspirations by using an ironing board as a pulpit for imaginary church services at his family home in New Lenox, Illinois.
