From Chicago to the Vatican: The Journey of Pope Leo XIV (Robert Francis Prevost)

When you hear the word Pope, what usually comes to mind? A powerful religious leader dressed in white, waving to crowds from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica? A spiritual shepherd for over a billion Catholics worldwide? That might be the image most of us grew up with. But rarely do we stop to ask—who was this man before the white cassock? What stories shaped him? What streets did he walk before Vatican corridors?

In the case of Pope Leo XIV—formerly Robert Francis Prevost—his story begins far from Rome. It begins in a modest suburb of Chicago, in the town of Dolton, Illinois, where faith was sown not in grand basilicas but in the warmth of a local parish, St. Mary of the Assumption. It’s the kind of place where neighbors knew each other by name, where Sunday Mass was a family affair, and where young Robert first encountered the quiet pull of something greater.

Born on September 14, 1955, Robert was raised in a working-class family. He was the second of three children, and like many Catholic boys in the ’60s, he spent his youth surrounded by rosaries, parish picnics, and the kind of community that lives and breathes Catholic tradition. But even among his peers, it became clear early on: Robert wasn’t just in the Church—he was called to it.

The Stirring of a Vocation

In his teens, Robert’s spiritual life deepened. While his friends planned careers in business or engineering, he felt drawn to something quieter, something inward. He eventually joined the Order of Saint Augustine—the Augustinians—a religious community known for its emphasis on community life, scholarship, and service.

Imagine that. A young man in his twenties, giving up a world of possibilities to take vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. It wasn’t a decision he made lightly, but it was one that defined the rest of his life. After entering the novitiate in 1977, he made his solemn vows in 1981, sealing his commitment to the Church.

Robert then pursued studies in theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, later continuing in Rome at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, where he earned a licentiate in sacred theology. These years weren’t just academic for him—they were a time of personal formation, where the seeds of humility, compassion, and leadership truly began to grow.

Peru: Where Faith Meets Reality

Then came the mission that would mark him forever: Peru.

Robert was sent as a missionary to northern Peru, a place with rich culture but also deep poverty and social unrest. Here, in towns like Chiclayo, Piura, and Trujillo, he ministered not from a distance, but up close—in dirt roads and crowded chapels, among farmers and families, hearing confessions, celebrating Mass, listening to people’s heartbreaks in a language that became his own.

Peru wasn’t a footnote in his career. It was a transformative crucible.

It was also where he would become a bishop—appointed by Pope Francis in 2015 as the Bishop of Chiclayo. And when he accepted Peruvian citizenship that same year, it wasn’t for optics—it was because Peru had become home.

Climbing Higher… and Staying Grounded

In the years that followed, Prevost’s leadership was undeniable. In 2001, he was elected Prior General of the Augustinian Order—the global head—serving in Rome for twelve years. His reputation grew as someone deeply thoughtful, prayerful, but also practical. He wasn’t the kind of clergyman who sought power. He was the kind who, when given responsibility, carried it with grace and reluctance.

Then, in 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, one of the most influential positions in the Vatican, and later named him a cardinal in 2024. For many, it seemed clear: Cardinal Prevost wasn’t just another name in the College of Cardinals—he was being prepared for something greater.

Habemus Papam: The Making of Pope Leo XIV

On May 8, 2025, history was made.

Following the death of Pope Francis, the world’s attention turned to the Sistine Chapel. On the fourth ballot, white smoke rose. A name was announced: Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost. An American. An Augustinian. A missionary. A man who had once walked the streets of Dolton now stood as the 267th successor to Saint Peter.

He took the name Leo XIV, a tribute believed to reference Pope Leo XIII, known for championing social justice and workers’ rights—an echo of Prevost’s own heart for the marginalized.

He’s the first pope from the United States, the first native English speaker to wear the papal ring since Pope Adrian IV in the 12th century, and the first Augustinian to rise to the papacy. But beyond those headlines, he’s still the same man who once walked side streets in Peru, who grew up in the heartland of America, who quietly listened to the whisper of God and said “yes.”

A Pope with a Heart for the People

Already, Pope Leo XIV has shown signs of his pastoral style—emphasizing unity, humility, and the dignity of every person. His papacy may hold traditional lines on certain issues, but his humanity, his missionary soul, and his deep empathy for those on the peripheries are what many Catholics are now looking to.

For every seminarian unsure of his path, for every young Catholic wondering if holiness and humility can coexist with leadership, the story of Pope Leo XIV reminds us: God calls the most ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

And sometimes, that journey starts not in Vatican palaces—but in a small, working-class suburb just outside Chicago.

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• A gentle shepherd: Remembering the life and legacy of Pope Francis