By Rajan Philips –

Rajan Philips

The conclave of 133 Cardinals, 108 of whom were appointed by the late Pope Francis from far flung parts of the world, needed only two days and four rounds of secret ballot to swiftly settle on Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as the new Pope. They could not have decided on a worthier successor to Pope Francis. The Chicago-born Prevost had a long missionary stint in Peru, and Pope Francis made him the Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru in 2015. He was elevated to the College of Cardinals eight years later in 2023, with concurrent appointment as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, an influential position that oversees the appointment and guidance of Catholic Bishops everywhere.

This past February, the late Pope inducted Cardinal Prevost into the exclusive order of Cardinal Bishops. To Vatican insiders, this was a clear sign of “papal trust and favour” even though the two men were not seen as always agreeing on everything. It may have occurred to Francis that Prevost could be a good shepherd and not just the manager of the farm!

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is Pope Leo XIV

Americans are lapping it up as the first selection of an American pope in history. Pope Bobby from Chicago. But an early news release from the Vatican would seem to have called Prevost the Second Pope from the Americas. It is Cardinal Prevost’s US-Peruvian dual national status that may have found the strong group of 17 (excluding Prevost) cardinals from Latin America emerging as early supporters and facilitating the quick coalescing to achieve the required support of two-thirds of the cardinals.

The current diversity of the College would have certainly helped and  many of the Cardinals apparently saw Prevost as one who would continue the legacy of Francis while reaching out to others who were not wholly inspired by the late pontiff. The new Pope demonstrated both continuity with Francis and a throwback to tradition in his first formal appearance, prayer and blessing from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica.

Unlike Francis who preferred the plain cassock, Prevost wore the traditional red cape and the richly embroidered stole. He referred to his predecessor with genuine affection and respect and echoed Franci’s mission for “building bridges” in a world whose make up ought to be that of “one people.”

Remarkably, as well, the new Pope said nothing in English, his first of many languages, during his first appearance at the balcony on Thursday, but opened his sermon in English, with words from the Psalm, the next morning as he celebrated Mass with the Cardinals. From Paul and Corinthians, the Pope took his role as a “faithful administrator” of the Church. Turning to the outside world he contrasted the two historical responses to Christ: one, the response of rejection by the powerful because of the demand on them for honesty and morality; and two, the response of the ordinary people, for whom, “the Nazarene is not a charlatan”, but an upright and courageous man who would speak truth to power. The Pope went to elaborate on the two responses, their relevance today, and the desperate need for “missionary outreach.”   

More telling of the trajectory of the new papacy is Prevost’s selection of Leo as the papal name and becoming Pope Leo XIV. More than 125 years after the last Leo, Pope Leo XIII (1810-1903) who was pontiff from 1878 to 1903 in a long and consequential papacy. Two weeks ago, in my obituary to Pope Francis, I referred to Rerum Novarum (New Things, subtitled: Rights and Duties of Capital and Labour), the celebrated 1891 encyclical of Pope Leo III. It became the first book of Catholic teaching on social justice. I briefly compared Rerum Novarum to Pope Franci’s 2020 encyclical, “Fratelli Tutti,” (Fraternity and Social Friendship). With the new pope becoming Pope XIV, his papacy offers the prospect for a new synthesis between the Church’s early teachings on social justice and the tumults of the contemporary world.

Pope Leo or Pope Bobby

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago, in 1955, to parents of Italian, French and Spanish roots. He studied in a high school run by Augustinian priests belonging to the Order of St. Augustine, one of the older religious orders in the Church founded by Pope Innocent IV in 1244. The order is named after the great Saint Augustine (354-430), the scholarly Berber from North Africa and later the celebrated Bishop of Hippo and one of the earliest Doctors of the Church.

Prevost went to Villanova University (also run by the Augustinians) near Philadelphia and obtained a degree in in mathematics in 1977. From there, he answered his calling, joined the Catholic Theological Union, the Augustinian seminary in Chicago, for religious studies and ordination as priest in 1981. Prevost became the first CTU alumnus to become Cardinal, and now he is the first Augustinian Pope in Church history. After Francis, the first Jesuit Pope.

At CTU, Prevost earned his degree in Master of Divinity and later completed his Doctorate in Canon Law in Rome, at the Dominican University of St. Thomas Acquinas. It was the Augustinian Order that took Prevost to Peru as a missionary, and he has since shuttled between Peru and Chicago. His clerical vocation has combined missionary work, academic stints and administrative roles, including at one point being the head (Prior General) of the worldwide Augustinian Order with headquarters in Rome. As a Bishop in Peru, he won praise as “a moderating influence” between the squabbling factions of Peruvian Bishops who are divided between Liberation Theology, on the left, and Opus Dei, on the right.

Both in Peru and in Chicago, Prevost came under criticism for not acting strongly enough against priests accused of sexual abuse of children, but in both instances he was found to have acted properly by independent parties. Prevost also headed a successful diocesan commission for child protection in Chiclayo, Peru. As Cardinal, Prevost was also considered to be somewhat of an unknown quantity on the internally vexing issues of the church, viz., the ordination of women as deacons or priests, accepting same-sex unions, or allowing the Latin Mass.

This may have attenuated potential opposition to him by conservative cardinals. As a Pope from Latin America, Francis went farther than any of his predecessors in dealing with the internal challenges of the Church. Given his dual US-Mexican status and experience, the new pope might go even further than Francis.

Outside of the Church, the College of Cardinals may have wanted to project both a missionary and an apostle for the faith, on the one hand, and a world stateman to speak to the secular issues of humanity, on the other. In selecting an American born cardinal as pope, the Vatican might be sending a message to both the church and the state of the United States of America. The new Pope will bring an alternative voice to debates in America over the rights of immigrants and their denial including deportation.

He could also be an antidote to the politically conservative sections of the American Church as well as the growing contingent of Trump’s MAGA Catholics, including some of the Supreme Court justices. Trump has welcomed the selection of an American Pope as “a great honour to the country.” His predecessors, Biden, Obama, Bush and Clinton have been more fulsome in their praises and their prayers for the new Pope. Regardless of politics, to many Americans the new pope could just be their Pope Bobby.