Brian Howey column: Miraculously, an American pope … from Chicago

The election of Robert Prevost as Lion XIV, Pope number 267 of history, marks a milestone for the Catholic Church by becoming the first American to ascend to the pontificate, an option that not long ago seemed discarded. That the first world power also had the leading spiritual leader of the West was considered an impossible combination. However, the world has changed and the 133 cardinals who gathered in the Sistine Chapel had it clear. Today i…

Brian Howey column: Miraculously, an American pope … from Chicago

Amazingly, miraculously, an American has been elected Holy See of the Catholic Church. Cardinal Robert Prevost of Chicago, who spent much of his career in the nation of Peru, became Pope Leo XIV on Thursday.

It has not yet been 48 hours since the election of Robert Prevost as the new Pope under the name of Leo XIV and details about the past of this former American cardinal have emerged.Father Alexander Lam, Peruvian Augustinian friar who knows the new Pope personally, has given some statements collected by the Mirror saying that Prevost was very dear in Peru for his closeness to his people, especially to the poor and for being a defender of social j…

In Peru they have no doubt. Leon XIV was born in the United States, but he is Peruvian. They consider that the more than 20 years he spent in the country forged the image of “sheep-scented shepherd” that Francis so much liked. Without Peru in his history, they say, Robert Francis Prevost would not be Pope. And some reason they may have. It was there that he put his feet in the mud. Those who frequented him during those years remember him quiet, …

Born in Chicago he was the first pontiff from North America but was BishopChiclayo and also has Peruvian citizenship.For two terms he was prior general of the Augustinians, religious order present also in many countries of Asia. Pope Francis had then called him to Rome in 2023 as prefect of the dicastery for Bishops. "My vocation as that of every Christian is to be missionary, to announce the Gospel where one is" .

May 8, 2025 – Lima – EFE. U.S. citizen Robert Prevost was elected Thursday as the new pope under the name of Leon XIV. In addition to his nationality of origin, he also has Peruvian citizenship, which he obtained in 2015. This information was confirmed by the National Registry of Identification and Civil Status (Reniec), an organization that specified that Prevost has a national identity document in force in Peru. Reniec’s spokesman, Rubí Rivas,…