White smoke is a wave, and the Catholic Church has a new Pope. He is American.
The Vatican Cardinals elected Chicago-born Robert Prevast on Thursday to lead the church, leading the aftermath of Pope Francis, who passed away last month.
Prevost took the name of Leo XIV when he became the first pope from the United States.
“Peace is with you,” his first words as Pope said.
This will take a look at the new Pope and his journey from the Midwest to the pinnacle of a church of 1.4 billion.
What is the background of Pope Leo?
Born in Chicago in 1955 to French, Italian and Spanish parents, Leo’s father was the school’s principal, and his mother was deeply involved in St. Mary, the assumption that his family attended.
Last week, the Sun Times in Chicago said Leo’s friends and fellow church participants had said he had been dedicated from an early age to his faith and path to the priesthood.
Leo graduated in 1977 with a mathematics degree from Villanova University in Pennsylvania. He also studied religion at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
In 1982 he received his doctorate in Church Law from the Pope College of St. Thomas Aquinas, Rome, before being sent to work for a Catholic mission in Peru.
In the next few decades, he ran through the ranks of the church bouncing between Chicago and Peru.
Pope Francis gave him greater responsibility within the church after he made him bishop of Chiclayo, Peru in 2015. That same year, Prevost also became a Peruvian citizen.
In 2023 he became governor of Dicaster for Bishops, the leading Catholic government agency based in Rome.
What is Augustine?
In his first official duties as Pope, Leo introduced himself as an Augustine. Order within the Catholic Church continues with Catholic teachings that emphasize love, harmony, humility and dedication to the church’s spiritual community.
The term also describes individuals belonging to religious orders, with Pope Leo being only one of 34 of the 266 people doing so.
Such orders are Catholic communities that include priests, nuns, monks, or laying people dedicated to a particular type of mission and spirituality.
Pope Francis was the first pope from the Jesuit religious order and the first pope to come from the religious order in more than a century and a half.
What did the Pope say in his first speech?
Leo suggested following in Frances’ footsteps. The late Pope was seen as a transformative figure, primarily focusing on taking the Church in a progressive direction, promoting the rights of the poor and promoting the rights of the marginalized.
“Let us hear the weak but always brave voice of Pope Francis, who blessed Rome, that day the pope blessed Rome and the world on the Easter morning,” Leo said.
In his final Easter message just days before his death, Francis called for peace and disarmament.
Why Leo?
As for the Pope, the name matters. New Popes often choose new names as a tribute to their saints and predecessors.
Pope Francis, for example, took the name of St. Francis of Assisi.
The last Leo, Pope Leo XIII, who led the church, defended the rights of workers.
“Until then, church hierarchies tended to be identified with the upper class, so Leo XIII redirected to the church, and since then, certainly many Popes have built it.”
What is his politics?
Church leaders are not politicians, but religion is intertwined with public affairs. Leo has given hints for his politics for many years, especially in defending immigrant rights.
In 2015, Leo shared an article by Cardinal Timothy Dolan, criticizing Donald Trump’s anti-immigration proposal at the time. The column title is as follows: Why is Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric so problematic?
In February, he once again appeared to be criticizing the Trump administration’s immigration policy, aiming for Vice President J.D. Vance’s insistence that people should love others nearby than strangers.
Leo shared an article declaring, “JD Vance is wrong. Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
Where does he stand in the female priest?
The argument that allows women to become priests is rageful in the Catholic Church, but Leo does not seem to agree with this change.
“What I have to say is that ordaining women, or that there were women who said this. Interestingly, “female clergy” don’t necessarily solve the problem, they may create new problems,” he told reporters in 2023.
What did he say about the sexual abuse scandal?
Leo’s Augustine Order faces criticism of transparency in dealing with cases of sexual abuse that have shaken up the church.
In 2023, Leo called for a focus on the victims on the issue.
“There’s a good job done over the years and there’s a place where the rules are put into practice. At the same time, I believe there’s still a lot to learn,” he told Vatican News in 2023.
“I’m talking about the urgency and responsibility of accompanying a victim.”
How does he compare with other Popes by age?
Leo, 69, is younger than his past two predecessors, who became a clergyman. Francis was 76 years old. Benedict XVI was 78 years old. However, he was older than John Paul II, and he was 58 years old when he became Pope.
What does he do in his spare time?
He loves tennis, spends time with friends and “meets a wide range of different people.”
“I consider myself a very amateur tennis player. I have rarely had the opportunity to practice since leaving Peru, so I look forward to returning to the court,” he told the Augustinian Order website in 2023.
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