American born a Chicago and belonging to theOrder of Sant’Agostino, Leo XIV – to the century Robert Francis Prevost – It is a pontiff close to the seventy years that embodies, since the chosen name, a message of renewal rooted in tradition. Tidy Priest in 1981 And Bishop in 2010spent most of his ministry in the diocese of chiclayoin Peru, where he developed an authentic link with the poorest and most marginal communities in South America.
Its long experience in missionary contextscombined with a solid theological and pastoral formation, made it a global clergy modelcapable of overcoming geographical and cultural boundaries, always maintaining the Gospel and people at the center. Before being created Cardinal, he held important assignments in the Roman Curia, including the one at the Congregation for the evangelization of peoples and as director of theOffice for missionaries.
In the 2023Pope Francis chose him as Prefect of the Dicastery for the bishopsentrusting him with a crucial role in the selection of the world episcopate. A appointment that made it well known to cardinals from all over the world, while maintaining a profile away from the bureaucratic logic of the Curia.
His election confirms the will of the Cardinal College to entrust the guidance of the Church to a figure pastoral, intercultural and balancedcapable of listening and building bridges between the north and the south of the worldbetween the US and the Latin American soul of Catholicism, between different theological sensitivity: on the one hand, respect for tradition, on the other the opening that has characterized Francesco’s pontificate.
Prevost had long been considered papabileprecisely for this ability of mediation and for the reputation of moderationaccompanied by a remarkable lucidity in episcopal discernment. His attitude to move naturally between different worlds and cultures and today is now read as a concrete response to the challenges of the global church: poverty, inequalities, vocational crisis, new forms of evangelization.
Less identified with the dynamics of the Roman Curia compared to other purple, but deeply inserted in the Vatican decision -making networks, Leo XIV is the ripe fruit of an authentic pastoral journey. A Pope who speaks many languages, but walks with a single heartready to open a new phase in the history of the Church.
