Who is Robert Prevost, the first American pope?

WashingtonThe first American pope was elected during the second term of Donald Trump, who came to the White House with messianic pretensions and the certainty that God had chosen him to lead the country. Robert Prevost (Chicago, 1955) will be anointed as the new leader of the Holy See under the name of Leo XIV. The religious figure was one of the names on the table as a possible successor to the late Francis, but there were doubts about his eligibility due to the unwritten rule that an American cardinal cannot be elected pope to avoid giving too much power to the United States. However, Prevost's figure could become precisely a dam of containment against the Republican's policies.

Beyond spirituality, The Vatican still has the will to play a role in geopolitics and wants to have the capacity to act as a countervailing power to the world's leading power. Pope Francis had been highly critical of the Trump administration, and in fact, when Vice President JD Vance visited him, he gave a sermon on compassion. The day after the meeting with Trump's deputy, the Vatican announced the Argentine's death, and now his successor will be an American.

On social media, Trump has already celebrated Prevost's appointment. "Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who has just been named pope. It is a great honor to realize that you are the first American pope. What a thrill, and what a great honor for our country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very significant moment!" the Republican wrote. In contrast, Vance, a Catholic, has yet to comment. Despite Trump's celebration, he doesn't seem to find much support in his fellow countryman.

The new pope is a supporter of Pope Francis' reformist line and has strong ties to Latin America.A member of the Order of Saint Augustine, his commitment is to the poor and migrants. Last year, on the Vatican news website, Prevost said that "the bishop must not be a little prince sitting in his kingdom." In his timeline X can be seen sharing several posts critical of Trump and Vance in recent months. Among them, one about the problems posed by the president's rhetoric regarding migrants and another about Vance's misguided view of Jesus.

The only question hanging over Prevost as Francesc's heir is whether he will have the same stance with the LGBTQ+ community that the Argentine had. Although he hasn't spoken much recently, in a 2012 address to the bishops, he lamented that Western media and popular culture fostered "sympathy for beliefs and practices that are contrary to the Gospel." He cited the "homosexual lifestyle" and "alternative families formed by same-sex couples and their adopted children."

Ties with Latin America

Amid an aggressive campaign of terror against immigrants in the United StatesTrump will meet with a pope known for being a missionary in Peru for 18 years. In fact, Prevost also holds Peruvian nationality. Prevost has been a member of the Order of Saint Augustine since 1977 and was ordained a priest in 1982. His style is sober and discreet, with a more technical and pastoral profile, something that made him an ally of Francis. The American prelate spent many years as a missionary in Peru before entering the curia as prefect of the influential Congregation for Bishops. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of Chiclayo, where he was bishop since 2015. He also assumed the pastoral care of Callao and played an active role in the Peruvian Episcopal Conference.

Leo XIV appeared on the balcony of the Church of Sant Pere in papal attire and was received with a standing ovation. After a brief speech, he gave his blessing. urbi et orbi. He had been elected by a two-thirds majority of the College of Cardinals at 6:07 p.m. this Thursday, in the fourth ballot of the conclave, and will be the 267th pope in history. And he has chosen a name with a long tradition: Leo.

The new head of the Catholic Church was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian origin, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish origin, and has two brothers. He spent his childhood and adolescence in the United States, studying first at the minor seminary of the Augustinian Fathers and then at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where, in 1977, he graduated in mathematics and studied philosophy, according to the Vatican's official biography.

Only four votes

The cardinals needed only four votes to agree on Francis's replacement. It took them roughly the same amount of time as in the previous two conclaves: Francis was elected in the fifth round of voting, and Benedict XVI in the fourth.

The new pope takes the reins of the Vatican with several portfolios and thorny debates on the table.: the growing secularization of society, especially in Western countries; the role of women and the place of homosexuals; growing inequalities throughout the world; the scourge of sexual abuse within the Church; and the institution's funding problems.