Pope Leo spent the times leading up to the secretive vote in the Vatican that will make him the first American head of the Catholic Church watching the movie Conclave so he knew what to expect, his brother has revealed.
Pope Leo XIV, previously Cardinal Robert Prevost, emerged on the balcony of St Peter’s Basilica on Thursday evening because the 267th pontiff, following 4 rounds of voting through the conclave.
The 69-year-old Chicago-born ally of the late Pope Francis was solely elevated to cardinal in 2023, however his standing among the many papabile had shot up within the weeks after his predecessor’s demise.
John Prevost described the second he came upon that his youthful sibling had been named the brand new head of the Catholic Church.
“I used to be on this second of disbelief that this can’t be doable as a result of it is too removed from what we thought would occur,” John instructed NBC from his house in New Lenox, Illinois.
When requested if Pope Leo would have watched the movie Conclave for inspiration, John stated he had. “So he knew behave. So it is that sort of stuff, as a result of I wished to take his thoughts off of it, chortle about one thing, as a result of that is now an superior accountability,” John added.
“I’m nearly speechless. It’s simply mindblowing that my brother was elected pope,” stated his different brother, Louis Prevost.
John additionally stated that he had instructed his youthful sibling to verify he did the Wordle, a New York Instances phrase recreation, earlier than coming into the conclave, throughout which each and every cardinal should surrender their telephone and give up communication with anybody exterior the 133 voting cardinals.
Requested how he thought Pope Leo would run the Vatican, he stated he expects him to be a “second Pope Francis”.
“He isn’t going to be actual far left and he isn’t going to be actual far proper,” he stated. “Type of proper down the center.”
Born in 1955, Pope Leo left house as a younger teenager to affix the St Augustine seminary. His brothers stated they noticed him solely through the holidays after that, however have maintained shut contact ever since.
Leo went on to have a protracted profession in missionary work in South America, working in Peru for almost 15 years till 1998. In 2015, he was appointed bishop of Chiclayo in northwest Peru and awarded Peruvian citizenship.
The brand new pontiff has championed the significance of on-the-ground work. In a 2023 interview with Vatican Information, he stated: “One should not give in to the temptation to dwell remoted, separated in a palace, glad with a sure social degree or a sure degree throughout the church. The authority now we have is to serve, to accompany clergymen, to be pastors and lecturers.”
It was this ardour for the pastoral that gained over the late Francis, who introduced Leo to the Vatican in 2023 because the highly effective head of the workplace that vets bishop nominations, some of the vital jobs within the Catholic Church.
The brand new pontiff can be an professional in canon regulation, a system that capabilities like a structure and authorized system particularly for the Catholic Church, affording him enchantment to the extra conventional wings of the Vatican.
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