The Two Firsts: Robert Frances Prevost XIV, the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, and his U.S. Birth
Robert Francis Prevost was elected on Thursday after a two day conclave to succeed the late Pope Francis, who was known for his commitment to social justice.
The Augustinian Fathers had a minor seminary. He went on to attend Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he received a degree in mathematics. He later pursued his theological education at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
The new pope was born in Chicago in 1955, according to Vatican News. His father is of French and Italian descent, while his mother is of Spanish descent.
Leo is known to share some of the same priorities as Francis, particularly when it comes to the environment and outreach to migrants and the poor, according to The College of Cardinals Report, a resource created by a team of Vatican journalists.
The pope thanked his fellow cardinals. He spoke fondly of Pope Francis before ending his remarks with a prayer.
The 69-year-old pontiff added that he wanted his message of peace to “enter your hearts, reach your families and all people, wherever they are.” During his address, he spoke in Italian, Spanish and Latin.
The election of Robert Frances Prevost, who chose the name Leo XIV, as the 267th leader of the Roman Catholic Church marks two historic firsts.. The first pope from the Augustinian order is also the U.S.-born pope.
U.S.-China trade negotiations begin: Pope Leo XIV, his views, and the future: High-level face-to-face talks in Switzerland
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This weekend, trade negotiators from the U.S. and China will meet in Switzerland for their first high-level face-to-face talks since President Trump returned to the White House. Goods from China currently face a tax of up to 245%. Trump’s 145% tariff is on top of some older tariffs. American goods going to China currently face a tariff of around 125%. After a deal was reached yesterday between Trump and the British prime minister, there will be a meeting this weekend.
GOP leaders insist they’ll not support stripping Medicaid benefits. A hurdle for the large, beautiful bill is the division. Restructuring Medicaid, the federal health care program for poor, elderly and disabled Americans, is one of the clearest ways conservatives can achieve their deep spending cut goals. To get the bill through Congress, House Republicans are working with a budget blueprint that requires them to find $1.5 trillion in cuts to help offset the cost of expanding the president’s 2017 tax cuts.
Source: Details on Pope Leo XIV and his views. And, U.S. and China trade negotiations begin
Oil prices in the U.S.: a breakdown of the first three months, past, present and future: The legacy of Patsy Lively and Anna Kendrick
Gas prices have decreased significantly, primarily due to a nearly 25% drop in crude oil prices since the beginning of the year. West Texas Intermediate, a benchmark for crude oil in the US, fell from a high of around $82 in mid-January to under $60 this week. Prices have dropped to a point where, on average, U.S. producers find it unprofitable to drill new wells. There is a breakdown of what is impacting oil prices.
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Reverend William Lego, who leads the Saint Turibius Parish in Chicago and has known the new pope most of his life, said that as with any political leader, Leo and Trump will have an “interesting relationship.”
Online sleuths have dug up older tweets on his feed that criticize the first Trump administration, including its family separation policy, efforts to repeal Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) and Trump’s “bad hombres” rhetoric.
Laura Loomer, a Trump ally, was the first to criticize the pope, calling him a “WOKE MARXIST POPE”. Trump offered his kind words to Lion on Thursday.
Leo has also shared messages opposing the death penalty, supporting vaccination during the COVID-19 pandemic and retweeting prayers for George Floyd after his police killing in 2020.
He posted links in February to op-eds in which they argued against the vice president’s comments on the Christians’ hierarchy of love, which was criticized by Pope Francis. The headline of one of the quotes was ” Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
The bishop asked him if his conscience wasn’t disturbed by the Trump administration’s partnership with El Salvador, which led to the deportation of immigrants without legal status. What can you do to stay quiet?
The Vatican Revival of Pope Francis: Implications for the Future of the Church and the Social Welfare of the Children of Refugees in Latin America
Leo, who is from Chicago, voted in Republican primary elections in 2012, 2014 and 2016, and most recently in the 2024 general election, according to voting records obtained by Politico. It’s not clear which party he voted for, as he is listed as “undeclared,” but Illinois voters do not register as members of a party.
In a Feb. 10 letter to U.S. bishops, the late Pope Francis sharply criticized the beginning of the Trump administration’s promised mass deportations. Francis wrote that “worrying about personal, community or national identity … easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth.”
According to the UN, there are 1.5 million forcibly displaced Venezuelas living in Peru which is one of the largest host countries for refugees.
The Catholic group in Chiclayo has known the pope for a while and he says he is concerned about the migrants from Venezuela.
The Vatican’s commitment to protecting the environment was reinforced by the then-cardinal, who warned against the harmful effects of technological development and advocated the shift to electric vehicles.
Though his views on a number of issues have not changed, it is questionable if he will guide the church in the way he says he will.
“To talk about matters of identity and sexual orientation with a child who hasn’t yet reached a sufficient age of development will create much confusion,” he added.
Promoting gender ideology is confusing because it’s supposed to create genders that don’t exist. So God created man and woman, and the attempt to confuse ideas from nature will only harm families and people,” he told the Peruvian newspaper Diario Correo.
In a 2012 address, Leo expressed concern that Western culture promotes “enormous sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel,” specifically referencing abortion, the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families comprised of same-sex partners and their adopted children.”
“I believe that there will be a continuing recognition of the fact that women contribute a lot to the life of the Church on many different levels,” he said.
At the same time, he touted Francis’ efforts to increase women’s participation and visibility in the Vatican, such as by appointing several women to prominent leadership roles. In fact, Francis tasked the now-pope with overseeing one of his most revolutionary reforms: adding three women to the office that vets bishop nominations in 2022.
“Something that needs to be said also is that ordaining women — and there’s been some women that have said this interestingly enough — ‘clericalizing women’ doesn’t necessarily solve a problem, it might make a new problem,” he said.
Like his predecessor, Leo does not believe in ordaining female deacons. That’s in keeping with thousands of years of Catholic understanding, as he told journalists at a 2023 conference.
At a 2023 Vatican press conference, for example, he said, “Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church.” He said that a bishop is “called to serve” in an interview.
Leo is also notable for being the first Augustinian friar to lead the church. The Order of Saint Augustine, which dates back to 1244, says it has some 2,800 members throughout 47 countries. Their three core values are truth, unity and love.
The prior provincial of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova, Rev. Robert Hagan, told NPR that there were “foundational values” used to make up Leo XIV. “Francis spoke a lot about synodality, to listen. I think Pope Leo XIV is someone who is also willing to listen to the voices on the margins.”
The predecessor, Robert Francis Prevost, advocated for the poor and migrants. He has stressed the importance of protecting the environment. Vice President Vance is a Catholic, and he criticized him recently for his views on the church.
The election ofLeo is a political statement by the College of Cardinal, but it is not a political statement at all, said Faggioli.
What New America Means for the Vatican and for the Church, and Who’s Bringing It to the Forbidden? A Conversation with Lego Faggioli
Even as many people have been forced to flee their homes because of uncertainty and climate change, Trump has characterized the arrival of migrants at the U.S. border as an invasion. Since returning to the White House in January, Trump has shaken the world order, alienating long-time allies and seemingly cozying up to autocratic leaders like Russian President Vladimir Putin and Hungary’s Viktor Orban.
“The United States is a great uncertainty for the Vatican as well,” Faggioli said. The Vatican can explore what this new America means for the world and for the church by electing a pope from the United States.
The two were in sixth grade and Lego has been with them ever since. They attended high school, seminary and Villanova together. He said that Leo was always “centered on helping people. He was always doing stuff, always very serviceable, as they say, very willing to do things.”
If the church is open to spirit, the spirit will look for the best candidate to lead the church. And our role as Catholics throughout the world is once that expression of the spirit becomes public … our next journey is we begin to work together and continue to discover how the spirit is alive in the world,” Lego said.
He continued, saying “now with an American pope maybe that position, from his point of view of power, could be used for a benefit of all. There’s always two sides to a coin.”