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Rome Gets Its First American Pope: Know All About Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Francis' Successor
Rome gets its first American Pope with Robert Francis Prevost, who’ll be succeeding the late Pope Francis. Here’s everything you need to know about the new Pope!
Robert Francis Prevost has been chosen as the new Pope! The Conclave’s monumental decision was announced on Thursday, May 8. Francis Prevost will be the first American head of the church in the history of Rome.
According to The Pillar, he grew up in Chicago and was born into a family of priests. His mother, Mildred Martínez, was of Spanish descent, while his father had French and Italian roots. While growing up in an ethnically blended family, Francis Prevost was drawn to the priesthood at a young age.
In his youth, he served as a catechist and an altar boy. But after deciding to pursue the priesthood, he struggled between becoming a diocesan priest and joining a religious order. He ultimately became a part of an Augustinian minor seminary that focused on unity, communion, and the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo.
Francis Prevost, who will be Pope Francis’s successor, studied canon law and became a prominent representative for the Augustinians over the years. He has served as a community prior, director of formation, teacher of the professed, judicial vicar, and professor, all within a decade.
In 2014, he was made the apostolic administrator of the Chiclayo diocese by the late Pope Francis, in Northwestern Peru. The latter seemed to have a deep faith in Prevost as he made him head of the department, the Dicastery for Bishops.
According to the website, Prevost told Pope Francis that he’d be happy with whatever decision he made. “But if you ask me to take on a new role in the Church, I will accept,” he added. Vatican City has been against the idea of having an American Pope, but Prevost's unique background makes him an exception.
The late Pope Francis made significant reforms during his tenure, but he was deemed to have a conservative worldview. What changes would Prevost’s Augustinian ideologies bring to the church?
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