Robert Francis Prevost is First American Pope (Leo XIV)

A remarkable journey from the South Side of Chicago to the Vatican

Robert Francis Prevost has been elected the new pope, Leo XIV. According to Wikipedia:

Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago on 14 September 1955, the son of Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Martínez. His father, who was a United States Navy veteran of World War II and school administrator, was of French and Italian descent, and his mother, a librarian, was of Spanish descent. Prevost has two brothers. As a child, Prevost served as an altar boy at St. Mary of the Assumption Church on the far South Side of Chicago. He completed his secondary studies at the minor seminary of the Order of St. Augustine in 1973. Prevost earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Villanova University in 1977. Prevost speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, and can read Latin and German.

Having also grown up in the United States, I imagine it must be an astonishing experience for him to be elected to the top position in such an ancient, Italian institution.

He is the fourteenth pope to possess the name Leo. Pope Leo I —also known as Leo the Great (Latin: Leo Magnus; Italian: Leone Magno—was was an Italian aristocrat who held the office from 440 until his death in 461.

Prevost’s surname reminded me of the French author and priest, Antoine François Prévost, known as Abbé Prévost, who became famous in literary circles for his 1731 novel Manon Lescaut—the story of a young French aristocrat, Chevalier des Grieux, who loses his head and his fortune for a beautiful and selfish girl. The novel was later adapted for multiple operas—Puccini’s is still the most popular.