The American cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, since Thursday, May 8, Pope Leo XIV, was born in Chicago, USA, in 1955; However, it has Peruvian nationality and current identification documents of that country. Everything has an explanation.
Prevost was one of Pope Francis’s great bets, who appointed him responsible for bishops around the world and his commission for Latin America, due to his Peruvian nationality. In addition, he has Spanish origins by his mother, Mildred Martínez, as Vatican media have highlighted.
Prevost, with also French and Italian ancestry by the father, began his ecclesiastical career in the Augustinian novitiate of Saint Louis, where in 1981 he assumed his votes. Subsequently, he studied theology and traveled to Rome to pursue canon law.
After ordering priest in 1982, at 28, he was immediately sent to what would become his second country: Peru. His first mission was in Chulucanas, Piura (1985-1986).
This was the beginning of an extensive tour in Latin America, which continued in 1988 in the Peruvian mission of Trujillo. There he dedicated himself to the selection of Augustinian vocations in cities such as Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurimac, and played various roles for a decade in that archdiocese.
Prevost also has extensive teaching experience in your country and as a prior general of the Agustino Chapter of Chicago. In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo.
A year later, he was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo and, since 2018, he held the position of second vice president of the Episcopal Conference of Peru, where he faced, among other issues, the serious crisis of the abuses committed by the Sodalicio Group of Christian life, dissolved this year by the Pope.
To occupy these positions, it was essential to have Peruvian nationality. Therefore, Prevost became a citizen of that country.
After a five years in Peru, in 2023, the Argentine Pontiff called him to Rome to appoint him Cardinal and Prefect of the Dicasterio for the Bishops, the Vatican organism that chooses the monsignors around the world.
It is known that, in 2015, Prevost was legalized as a Peruvian citizen and obtained its national identity document. A year later he processed his electronic identity document, which has no expiration date.
The nationalization of Premost as Peruvian was a requirement to comply with the concordat between the Holy See and the Peruvian State, which states that only Peruvian citizens can occupy charges of archbishop or bishop in that country.
International media point out that Prevost developed part of his priestly life in Peru. Initially he arrived in Chulucanas in an Augustina mission, and later to Chiclayo, where he directed a seminar.
From 2018 to 2023 he was part of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference as second vice president. During that period he participated in relevant decisions for the Catholic Church in Peru, he collaborated in pastoral initiatives and in the defense of human rights.