At the conclave on 8 May 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prévost (pronounced "Prevost" in French, but in the United States, non-English surnames are usually pronounced as they are written) was elected the 267th Pope.
Cardinal Prévost, an Augustinian, former Prefect of the Department of Bishops, and Archbishop Emeritus of Chiclayo, was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. In 1977, the future Pope entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine, St. Louis. He took his solemn vows on 29 August 1981. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, receiving a degree in theology.
At the age of 27, the order sent him to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982. In 1984, he received his licentiate degree and was sent to the mission in Chulucanas, in the Peruvian region of Piura, where he served from 1985 to 1986. In 1987, he defended his doctorate. In 1988, he was sent back to Peru.
In 1999, he was elected Prior of the Augustinian Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel (Chicago). On November 3, 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. The episcopal consecration took place on December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the diocesan cathedral. Since September 26, 2015, he has been the head of the Diocese of Chiclayo.
In 2019, Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy, and the following year, a member of the Congregation for Bishops and Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Callao, later heading the Department for Bishops and serving as President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
At the consistory of September 30, 2023, Pope Francis elevated him to the rank of cardinal with the titular deaconry of St. Monica.
Robert Francis Prévost was a member of the Vatican Departments for Evangelization; Doctrine; Eastern Churches; Clergy; Institutes of Consecrated Life and Societies of Apostolic Life; Culture and Education; and Legislative Texts. He was also a member of the Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
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