With great joy, we welcome the election of Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost as Pope Leo XIV. He is the first pope to hail from North America, born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois. His father was of French and Italian descent and his mother of Spanish descent. In 1977, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA) in St Louis, Missouri, making his solemn vows in 1981. He was ordained a priest on 19 June 1982 in Rome.
Although he was born and raised in the United States, Cardinal Prevost spent much of his religious life serving in Peru as a priest, professor and bishop. He also spent a number of years in Rome, studying for a licentiate and doctorate in Canon Law at the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). After many years in Peru and a few in the U.S., he returned to Rome as Prior General of the Augustinian Order, and more recently as Prefect of the Dicastery of Bishops.
He brings to the papacy a rich experience of the Americas, north and south, wealthy and poor, as well as an understanding of Europe and more significantly, the window on the world given him by his experiences in Rome and as Prior General of the Augustinian Order. The Augustinians have houses in over 50 countries in North and South America, Europe, Africa, Australia and Asia Pacific. As Prior General, he would have been responsible for them all.
His experience as an Augustinian religious and superior, as a seminary professor, and missionary bishop, has been vast and varied. He has served as head of a seminary, teacher of canon law, parish pastor, director of formation, and judicial vicar. All this experience will certainly have an influence on his Petrine Ministry.
Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in January 2023 and made him Cardinal in the Consistory of 30 September 2023. As head of the Dicastery of Bishops, he was responsible for selecting new bishops and was also involved in Pope Francis’ Apostolic Journeys. He participated in both the sessions of the 16th Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops on Synodality. Pope Francis also appointed him as a member of the Dicasteries for Evangelization, for the Doctrine of the Faith, for the Eastern Churches, for the Clergy, for Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life, for Culture and Education, for Legislative Texts, and of the Pontifical Commission for the Vatican City State. He has been described as discreet, able to listen, and possessing a mastery over issues, which perhaps accounts for the trust Pope Francis placed in him.
His opening words yesterday signalled him as a man of peace, humility and unity. Open to the world, sympathetic and grateful to his predecessor Pope Francis. We pray that he will be a pope according to God’s heart, for the good of the Church and humanity, one who can speak effectively and creatively about the joy of the Gospel of the risen Christ, bringing a newness and hope to people who have grown weary, anxious, and often forgetful of their dignity.
May Pope Leo’s words lead us on: “God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward. We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs His light.”
Devotedly in Christ,
+ Hugh OSB
Bishop of Aberdeen
