It makes sense that popes have family members - weird aunts, alcoholic uncles, mothers with online shopping addictions - but having never been presented with this information, I don’t think that any of us really considered it. Personally, I’d always just assumed that popes teleported to earth at the age of 75 with minimal backstory.
Before Pope Leo, if you’d asked me how a pope-in-waiting lived, I’d have presumed that they resided in some kind of underground monastry stuck in the 12th century, unaware of pop culture or modern technology. Perhaps I’d have thought that they bathed in rivers and spent their evenings reading parchment papers by candlelight.
And so, when the internet enlightened me about the existence of Pope Leo’s brothers - Louis and John Prevost, white-haired Americans who look like they enjoy mowing lawns and wearing comfortable shoes, I, for one, was quite thrown.
Not long after Pope Leo’s election, his brothers were tracked down by news outlets, and their reactions to his new gig were, pretty much, exactly how all of us would behave if our sibling had just been announced as the new leader of the Catholic church. Louis reenacted finding out that his brother was pope by exclaming “Oh my God! It’s Rob!”, and John said that he was on the phone with his niece who immediately screamed. John described how, in the lead up to the reveal, he’d been playing Words With Friends with his brother, and had asked him if he’d watched the film Conclave to know how he should act if he were revealed as the new pontiff. Which, really, is the kind of slightly-unhelpful thing that most siblings would text their brother while he sat staving off a panic attack, waiting to find out if he was now The Holiest Catholic on Earth.
Pope Leo’s brothers have an upbeat, ‘cheery uncle who likes to fish’ vibe
The brothers have an upbeat, “cheery uncle who likes to fish” kind of a vibe, and they’ve popped up across the internet via different interviews. They’ve given insights into Pope Leo’s childhood and how he liked to always pretend to be a priest while they were play fighting. Pope Leo’s apparently a White Sox fan, and his brother teases him about the fact that he has to wear red socks as part of his fashion-forward papal attire. In a more somber “big brother” moment during one interview, John discussed his concerns about how Robert would mentally adapt to his new role, and the weighty burden it would bring - a valid concern when considering the wide scope of responsibilities he now has. John also said that he speaks to his brother every day while they play internet scrabble, which is now what I’ll assume Pope Leo is up to when not championing the voices of the poor and downtrodden.
John said that he speaks to his brother, the Pope, every day while they play internet scrabble
I know that we can’t have a conclave every four years like the World Cup because it requires a death, something that no one is wishing upon our new Chicago-born, White Sox-supporting holy friend, but there was something so enthralling and engaging about it that captured the imagination of people the world over. The little puffs of white smoke, the fashion-forward socks, the pomp, the pageantry, an unexpected Harry Styles appearance - it was a bit like Taylor Swift’s tour had returned to bless us with an encore. But, while I expect that it’s going to be a long time until we have another one, I’m hoping that the Pope’s brothers remain in our lives like new spiritual “fun uncles”. Perhaps they could provide us with monthly updates about Pope Leo’s favourite MOB recipes, which clothes he’s saved on Vinted, or the kind of interior boards he’s put together on Pinterest for his new Vatican digs. If nothing else, I’d at least like to know if Pope Leo is privvy to using all the sneaky two-letter words during a scrabble game, or if he’s morally opposed to the concept. Surely even a pope isn’t immune to a few underhanded tactics while in pursuit of board game supremacy?
