Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, pronounced PREE-vohst; September 14, 1955) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of Vatican City.
Born in Chicago, United States, Prevost became a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine in 1977 and was ordained as a priest in 1982. He earned a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987 from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. He performed extensive missionary work in Peru in the 1980s and 1990s, working as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher, and administrator. Elected prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, he was based in Rome from 2001 to 2013, though traveled extensively. He then returned to Peru as Bishop of Chiclayo from 2015 to 2023, and became a Peruvian citizen. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome, and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Upon his return to Rome, Prevost was made a cardinal.
As a cardinal, Prevost emphasized synodality, missionary dialogue, and engagement with social and technological challenges; he has also addressed climate change, international migration, church governance, and human rights.
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