Cardinal Robert Prevost stands with Sisters and collaborators in Peru.
Fr. Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, served Peru’s rural poor with humility — visiting homes, celebrating sacraments, and walking dusty parish roads.
The future Pope Leo XIV at a celebration in Peru.
By: Kathleen M. Carroll
When Pope Leo XIV stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, he brought with him more than a new name — he brought the heart of a missionary shaped by dusty roads, parish kitchens, and humble service in Peru.
On May 8, 2025, as white smoke rose above St. Peter’s Basilica, history was made. The world learned that a humble priest from the South Side of Chicago — Robert Francis Prevost — had been elected pope. As Pope Leo XIV, he became the first American to hold the office and the second Latin America–formed pope in a row.
While Pope Francis brought to the papacy a deep missionary spirit rooted in pastoral service in Argentina, Leo XIV’s formation was shaped by decades of direct missionary work abroad — not just among the poor, but as one of them. His years in northern Peru, living among forgotten communities, fixing parish trucks, delivering oxygen to flood victims, and walking dusty roads as both priest and neighbor, gave him a missionary identity forged not in theory but in daily presence. His papacy rises not from prominence, but from proximity.
While much has been said about his American roots, it is Leo XIV’s missionary heart — forged in the deserts and dusty towns of Peru — that defines his papacy. His years among the poor, migrants, and working families of Chiclayo and Trujillo not only shaped his pastoral style but also ground his understanding of Church leadership in humility, presence, and accompaniment.
Chicago-Born, Peru-Formed
Born in 1955 on Chicago’s South Side, Robert Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine in 1977 and was ordained in 1982. His early academic and pastoral work suggested a bright future, but his heart was drawn to the missions. In 1985, he accepted an assignment to Peru, joining the Augustinian mission in Trujillo, where he would spend the next fourteen years.
According to America Magazine, Prevost’s arrival in Peru coincided with one of the country’s most turbulent eras. The Shining Path guerrilla movement had ignited widespread violence, leaving entire regions gripped by fear. Prevost, however, embraced the risk.
“He served the Augustinian mission in Trujillo for eleven years during a period of great disorder,” writes Vatican journalist Gerard O’Connell, noting that he remained “calm and grounded” even amid the chaos.
In a 2023 interview, then- Archbishop Prevost reflected on the meaning of that missionary identity: “I still consider myself a missionary. My vocation, like that of every Christian, is to be a missionary, to proclaim the Gospel wherever one is.”
A Missionary on the Margins
Prevost’s missionary work wasn’t flashy. He did not seek headlines or titles. Instead, he offered faithful presence. In the parish of Our Lady of Grace in Trujillo, he celebrated Masses in chapels made of adobe and tin, baptized children whose parents had no formal documents, and walked alongside people who had been forgotten by government and Church alike.
This simple, consistent ministry earned him deep affection. As AP News reported, locals in Chiclayo referred to him as a “priest of the people,” remembering how he washed parishioners’ feet during Holy Week, visited sick children at home, and made emergency pastoral visits to remote areas — even if it meant crossing rivers or traveling by motorbike.
In 1999, Prevost returned to the United States to lead his Augustinian province, and later served as prior general of the entire order. But his heart remained in Peru.
Return to Peru: Shepherd of Chiclayo
In 2015, Pope Francis appointed Prevost bishop of Chiclayo, a sprawling, coastal diocese with more than a million Catholics. There, his quiet missionary charism found new expression in leadership. He launched formation programs for lay leaders, improved seminary training, and worked closely with indigenous communities.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Bishop Prevost coordinated diocesan efforts to provide oxygen tanks, food baskets, and medicine to rural communities, drawing praise from local civic leaders. But he didn’t just lead from a distance — he delivered supplies himself.
A Church That Goes Out
These years in Peru marked Leo XIV’s deep embrace of what Pope Francis often called a “Church that goes out.” He lived the very missionary spirit he now brings to the papacy: walking with the poor, listening before speaking, and serving before commanding.
When he first appeared on the Vatican balcony as Pope Leo XIV, he greeted the world in Italian, English, and Spanish. But his most emotional moment came when he addressed Peru directly. “To my dear people of Chiclayo, of Trujillo, and all of Peru: Thank you. I carry you in my heart always,” he said.
He evoked his broad missionary experience in his very first remarks as pope, saying, “Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogues, that’s always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.”
Charism of a Missionary
In an interview with his Augustinian Order, Pope Leo XIV emphasized the consistent nature of the Church’s mission: “The mission of the Church has been the same for 2000 years, when Jesus Christ said: ‘Go therefore and make disciples of all nations…’ We have to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God at the same time that we understand what the Church is in its universal reality.”
What is missionary charism, and how does it show in Pope Leo XIV At its core, missionary charism is about being sent — not to dominate or convert with force, but to accompany, understand, and witness to the love of God in action. For Leo XIV, this meant responding to need wherever it appeared: the grief of a family who lost a child, the anxiety of a farmer who lost his crop, the exhaustion of a mother caring for her disabled child.
The Washington Post observed that his time in Peru was “marked by peacemaking, humanitarian aid, and solidarity with migrants.” His mission wasn’t abstract — it was incarnational, embodied in dirty boots, long walks, and hours of listening.
Quiet, But Not Passive
Though reserved by nature, Leo XIV was not passive. In 2020, when political unrest shook northern Peru over land rights and water access, Bishop Prevost stepped in as a mediator. His moral authority was respected by all sides. “He didn’t take sides, but he listened,” a community organizer told Reuters. “He helped us speak to each other again.”
This gift — building bridges — is central to his papacy. His first message as pope emphasized that the Church must be “a place of open arms, where all are welcomed, especially those most in need.” He used the word mission repeatedly, signaling that his vision of Church is not one of retreat but of outreach.
Legacy and Promise
Now at the helm of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV brings with him the smells and sounds of Chiclayo — the prayers of children, the laughter of catechists, the tears of grieving mothers. He brings a missionary charism that is not merely theoretical, but lived.
He also brings a clear understanding of the Church’s priorities. “The three words we are using in the work of the Synod — participation, communion, and mission — provide the answer,” he said in 2023, summarizing the framework for a synodal Church with global reach.
Upon being named a cardinal, he offered this reflection that now takes on added meaning: “Being a cardinal is a mission of love with Christ, our Savior… a cardinal is called to give his whole life in service to the Church.”
A Pope Formed by His People
The Rev. Alexander Lam, an Augustinian friar from Peru who knows the new pope, said he was beloved in Peru for his closeness to his people, especially the poor. “Even the bishops of Peru called him the saint, the Saint of the North, and he had time for everyone,” Lam told the Associated Press. “He was the person who would find you along the way. He was this kind of bishop.”
Shared Mission with the Combonis
Pope Leo XIV’s deep missionary spirit echoes the heart of the Comboni Missionary vocation: presence among the marginalized, dialogue rooted in respect, and service shaped by love. Like St. Daniel Comboni, Leo XIV has lived a mission grounded in humility and local empowerment — walking with the people rather than ministering from above. His papacy affirms the value of the path the Comboni Missionaries have walked for generations.
In an era of uncertainty and institutional change, Leo XIV offers a strong witness that the missionary vocation remains not only relevant but vital. His leadership brings renewed encouragement and credibility to institutes like ours, reminding the Church — and the world — that the future of mission lies in accompaniment, compassion, and the courage to go where others will not.
Many Lives, One Mission
Before his years in Peru and long before the papacy, Robert Prevost studied theology at Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago from 1977 to 1982. CTU — one of the most diverse, missionfocused seminaries in the United States — formed a generation of leaders committed to service on the margins.
There, Prevost studied alongside several Comboni Missionaries, including Fr. Ezechiele Ramin, a young priest from Italy known for his joyful spirit and fierce dedication to justice. In 1985, only three years after Prevost’s ordination, Fr. Ramin was martyred in Brazil while defending landless farmers in Rondônia. His death shocked the missionary world and became a rallying cry for peaceful resistance.
A CTU yearbook photo captures a moment in time: Prevost and Ramin, side by side — two young men preparing for lives of radical service.
“They were both deeply shaped by CTU’s missionoriented vision of Church,” said Sister Dianne Bergant, CSA, longtime professor at CTU. “Neither sought attention — just faithful service.”
That same spirit would echo decades later in Peru, where fellow bishops began calling Robert Prevost “the Saint of the North.”
Monsignor Jaime Rodríguez Salazar, a Comboni Missionary and Bishop Emeritus of Huánuco, offered this reflection after Pope Leo XIV’s election:
“I knew him very well and we shared many moments in the episcopate of Peru. He always gave us an example of being a man of God . . .
“I shouted with joy when I heard his name as our Pope. Truly the Holy Spirit guides his Church.”
