Pope Leo XIV turns 71: ten lesser-known facts about his life

Robert Francis Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois. More than seven decades later, after a path that took him from the United States to Peru and Rome, he was elected successor of Peter on May 8, 2025. On Sunday, some of the roughly 15,000 faithful gathered in St. Peter's Square wished him an early happy birthday.

1. He is the youngest of three brothers and grew up in a family close to the Church

Robert Francis Prevost is the youngest of the three sons of Louis Marius Prevost and Mildred Agnes Martínez. His older brothers are Louis Martín and John Joseph. His parents were born in Chicago and later settled in Dolton.

His father served in the U.S. Navy during the Second World War and then spent his working life in education. He worked first as a teacher and later as principal of Brookwood School District 167 and of Mount Carmel Elementary School. His mother worked as a librarian at several schools. Both were active in St. Mary parish, according to the official Vatican biography.

2. Before he was pope, he was editor in chief

One of the less familiar chapters of Leo XIV's life comes from his school years. At Saint Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, Michigan, the young Prevost became editor in chief of the school yearbook.

That was not his only role. He also sat on the student council, headed the Library Club and was class president in his senior year. Long before he took on responsibilities in the Order of St. Augustine and in the Church, Prevost was already organizing and leading at school.

3. He played tennis and went bowling

His student years also show a more everyday side of the pope. The official Holy See biography records that the young Robert played tennis and went bowling during high school.

After graduating in 1973, he moved on to university and then to religious life, but those two sports are among the details preserved from the early years of the future Leo XIV.

4. He earned a degree in mathematics before studying canon law

Leo XIV's academic training did not begin only in theology. Prevost entered Villanova University in Pennsylvania, where he earned a degree in mathematics in 1977 and also studied philosophy.

His studies then went in very different directions. He studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and, after being sent to Rome, took up canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas, the Angelicum.

He obtained his licentiate in canon law in 1984 and defended his doctoral thesis the following year, on "The role of the local prior in the Order of St. Augustine." The work was published two years later.

5. He joined the Augustinians days before turning 22

On September 1, 1977, just 13 days before his 22nd birthday, Prevost entered the novitiate of the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel, the order's Midwest province, in St. Louis.

He made his temporary vows on September 2, 1978, and his solemn vows on August 29, 1981. Ordained a deacon that same year, he was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, in the chapel of St. Monica in Rome.

Augustinian spirituality stayed with him throughout his life, and more than four decades later Leo XIV became the first member of the Order of St. Augustine elected pope.

6. He spent much of his ministry in Peru

Though he was born and first trained in the United States, Peru became one of the countries central to his life. In 1985 he was sent to the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, in the Piura region, where he served as parochial vicar of the cathedral of the Holy Family and chancellor of what was then a territorial prelature.

After a short return to the United States, he went back to Peru in 1988. In Trujillo he held many roles over the years: prior, director of formation and master of the professed. He also served as director of studies and interim rector of the San Carlos y San Marcelo Major Seminary, where he taught canon law, moral theology and patristics.

He was also judicial vicar and a member of the College of Consultors, and he took on parish responsibilities. Years later he returned to the country as a bishop. Pope Francis named him apostolic administrator of Chiclayo in November 2014, and he was ordained a bishop on December 12 of that year. In 2015 he was named bishop of the diocese.

7. He also holds Peruvian citizenship

Prevost's ties to Peru went well beyond a missionary posting. On August 24, 2015, he became a naturalized Peruvian citizen after years of pastoral service in the country.

His relationship with the Church in Peru continued as a bishop. In 2018 he was elected second vice president of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference, where he also served on the economic council and headed the commission for culture and education.

In 2023 the leadership of the Peruvian Bishops' Conference awarded him the St. Toribio de Mogrovejo Gold Medal in recognition of his service to the Church in the country.

8. He was elected prior general of the Augustinians on his birthday

One of the coincidences in his life also fell on September 14. In 2001, on the day he turned 46, his Augustinian brothers meeting in General Chapter elected him prior general of the Order of St. Augustine.

His time leading the order was not short. After completing his first term, he was confirmed in 2007 for a second six-year term. He served 12 years as prior general in all, until 2013.

Twenty-four years after that election, Prevost marked September 14 for the first time as pope.

9. He speaks five languages

His years in the United States, Latin America and Rome also explain his international profile. The official Holy See biography states that Leo XIV speaks English, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Italian.

International work was a constant before he became pope. He had already spent years in the United States and Peru and held international responsibilities as prior general of the Augustinians. In January 2023 Francis called him to Rome to head the Dicastery for Bishops and to serve as president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

On September 30 of that year, Francis made him a cardinal and assigned him the deaconry of Santa Monica, closely tied to the Augustinian tradition.

10. He is the first American pope and the first Augustinian

The latest chapter began on May 8, 2025. The conclave had opened the day before, and the cardinals elected Robert Francis Prevost as successor of Peter. He took the name Leo XIV.

He became the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, the first from the United States and the first member of the Order of St. Augustine to be elected.

On this September 14, Robert Francis Prevost turns 71. It is his second birthday since his election, and it comes more than a quarter century after that other September 14 when his Augustinian brothers chose him to lead the order he had entered at 21.