Meet New Catholic’s First U.S. Pope, Robert Prevost

VATICAN CITY- The choice of the world’s Catholic cardinals, Robert Prevost, is the first pope from the United States and a relative unknown on the global stage.

Prevost 69 who is originally from Chicago, has spent most of his career as a missionary in Peru and became a cardinal only in 2023.

Reverend Mark Francis, a friend of Prevost since the 1970s, told Newsmonger that the cardinal was a firm supporter of his predecessor’s papacy, and especially of the late pontiff’s commitment to social justice issues.

In a 2023 interview with the Vatican’s news outlet, Prevost focused on the importance of evangelization to help the Church grow.

“We are often preoccupied with teaching doctrine … but we risk forgetting that our first task is to teach what it means to know Jesus Christ,”

Prevost was born in 1955 and is a member of the global Augustinian religious order, which includes about 2,500 priests and brothers, operates in 50 countries and has a special focus on a life of community and equality among its members.

He has a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in Philadelphia, a master’s from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a doctorate in Church law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Prevost first went to Peru as a missionary in 1985, returning to the United States in 1999 to take up a leadership role in his religious order.

He later moved to Rome to serve two six-year terms as head of the Augustinians, visiting many of the order’s communities across the world. He is known to speak English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese.

Returning to Rome in 2023, Prevost generally did not take part in many of the social events that attract Vatican officials throughout the city.