All you need to know about Leo XIV, the new American pope

American Cardinal Robert Prevost is the 267th pontiff of the Catholic church and has chosen the name, Leo XIV.

The 69-year-old Chicago native is the first American pope and is seen as a diplomat in the church.

Born in Chicago in 1955 to parents of Spanish and Franco-Italian descent, Prevost served as an altar boy and was ordained as a priest in 1982. He later moved to Peru three years later. 

Prevost has Peruvian nationality and is fondly remembered as a figure who worked with marginalised communities and helped build bridges.

He spent 10 years as a local parish pastor and as a teacher at a seminary in Trujillo in northwestern Peru. He received priestly ordination on June 19, 1982, after studying canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University, according to his bio on the Vatican Press website.

Late Pope Francis appointed Pope Leo to work at the Vatican after first appointing him in 2014 to serve as the bishop of Chiclayo, Peru. He has spent the majority of his time in Peru, where he has also worked as a teacher, missionary, and parish priest.

In April 2020, Francis appointed him to be the apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao, also in Peru, his profile said.

Since 2023, he has held the position at the Vatican as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, in charge of vetting nominations for bishops around the world.

Pope Leo told Vatican News in October 2024 that a “bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom, but rather called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them and to suffer with them.”

He also currently serves as the president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.