Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is the first Pope from the United States — and he appears to hold views in line with his late predecessor, Pope Francis - but what is the newly elected Pope’s background?.
The 69-year-old has chosen the papal name Leo, becoming the 267th to hold the title of spiritual leader of the Roman Catholic Church.
A member of the 13th century Augustinian religious order, Prevost has spent nearly his entire adult life ministering in Peru and is widely seen as a unifying figure for traditionalists and moderates.
He was born on September 14, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, to Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent.
After earning a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at Villanova University, Pennsylvania in 1977, Prevost decided to become a priest and joined the Order of St. Augustine that same year.
He was ordained in 1982 and earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984, as well as a Doctor of Canon Law degree in 1987, from Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas, Rome.
It was in 1985 that Prevost moved to Peru, where he became a missionary, teacher and parish priest.
Prevost moved back stateside in 1998 after being elected provincial of the Augustinian Province of Chicago.
However, it was while returning to America’s second-most Catholic city that Prevost found himself at the centre of controversy.
He allowed Father James Ray to reside at a friary, despite being suspended from public ministry for accusations of sexually abusing minors, and did not inform a nearby school of his residence.
Francis clearly had his eye on Prevost and in many ways saw him as his heir apparent.
Returning to Peru, his late holiness appointed Prevost as an apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in 2014 and Bishop of Sufar in 2015.
From there, Prevost would join the Congregation for the Clergy, Congregation for the Clergy and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
In 2023, Prevost became Dicastery for Bishops, which is responsible for vetting nominations for bishops around the world, and controversially added three women to the voting bloc.
He also became a canon-bishop, who are part of the College of Cardinals which vote for pontiffs in the conclave.
Ideologically, Prevost occupies a centrist position within the church’s hierarchy and, like Francis, is viewed as progressive, particularly in his embrace of marginalised groups and support of divorcees receiving Holy Communion.
However, Prevost maintains more conservative positions on other matters, particularly LGBT+ rights.
He previously expressed disappointment that some Western media held “sympathy for beliefs and practices that are at odds with the gospel,” in particular, the “homosexual lifestyle” and “alternative families composed of same-sex partners and their adopted children”.
Prevost has previously been in the limelight after clashing with JD Vance, who is a devout Catholic.
He shared an article online from the National Catholic Reporter entitled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others” in light of Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration.
The retweet came after the VP told Fox News on January 29: "There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world.”
