Who is Robert Prevost, the new pope?
Made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, he has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.
Cardinal Robert Prevost on Thursday was elected as the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, taking the name Pope Leo XIV.
Cardinal Prevost, 69, an American who has spent much of his career as a missionary in Peru, is a relative unknown on the global stage.
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Made a cardinal by Pope Francis in 2023, he has given few media interviews and rarely speaks in public.
Originally from Chicago, he has attracted interest from his peers because of his quiet style and support for Francis' 12-year papacy, especially his commitment to social justice issues.
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost poses after being elevated to the rank of cardinal at the Vatican, September 30, 2023. (Photo: REUTERS/Yara Nardi)
Rev. Mark Francis, a friend of Prevost since the 1970s, told Reuters the cardinal was a firm supporter of his predecessor's papacy, and especially of the late pontiff's commitment to social justice issues.
"He was always friendly and warm and remained a voice of common sense and practical concerns for the Church's outreach to the poor," said Francis, who attended seminary with Prevost and later knew him when they both lived in Rome in the 2000s.
"He has a wry sense of humour, but was not someone who sought the limelight," said Francis, who leads the U.S. province of the Viatorian religious order.
Prevost said during a 2023 Vatican press conference: "Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church."
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, Cardinal Robert Prevost appears on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica, May 8, 2025. (Photo: REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane)
Prevost first served as a bishop in Chiclayo, in northwestern Peru, from 2015 to 2023, and became a Peruvian citizen in 2015, so he has dual nationalities.
Pope Francis brought him to Rome that year to head the Vatican office in charge of choosing which priests should serve as Catholic bishops across the globe, meaning he has had a hand in selecting many of the world's bishops.
Jesus Leon Angeles, coordinator of a Catholic group in Chiclayo who has known Prevost since 2018, called him a "very simple" person who would go out of his way to help others.
Leon Angeles said Prevost had shown special concern for Venezuelan migrants in Peru, saying: "He is a person who likes to help." More than 1.5 million Venezuelans have moved to Peru in recent years, partly to escape their country's economic crisis.
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