Meet Pope Leo XIV The First American Pontiff

A SURPRISE TO HIS OWN BROTHERS—AND MUCH OF THE WORLD-POPE LEO XIV'S RISE FROM CHICAGO'S SUBURBS TO THE VATICAN IS RESHAPING THE CHURCH AMID GLOBAL CHALLENGES

- SIMON PERRY

New Era "I know I can rely on each and every one of you," Pope Leo told the cardinals at his first holy mass on May 9. Inset: The crowd in St. Peter's Square waved U.S. flags on May 11.

From the moment white smoke rose over St. Peter’s Square on May 8, the world knew history had been made. But for one Florida man, the announcement that followed struck closer to home. “Oh my God, it’s Rob!” shouted Louis Prevost, arms in the air as he spoke to reporters from his home in Port Charlotte, Fla., processing how his youngest brother—Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost—had just been reintroduced to the world as Pope Leo XIV on the grand balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. “Our family life,” Louis tells People, “will never be the same.”

Like millions around the world, Louis and his other sibling, John—who lives outside Chicago, where the three Prevost brothers grew up—had been glued to the conclave coverage, watching for the first sign of a new pontiff. In historical terms the wait wasn’t long. The 133 cardinals, meeting in strict secrecy inside the Sistine Chapel to choose a new leader for the Roman Catholic Church, reached their decision faster than many expected—taking just four rounds of voting over less than two days. But when the proclamation finally rang out that the 267th pope would be Cardinal Robert Prevost, 69, the real shock set in. Not only had he been considered a long shot, but the Chicago native became the first American elected to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics. “It was quite the surprise for all of us,” says Robert Campbell, a fellow Chicagoan among the 150,000 people gathered in St. Peter’s Square. “I hope this pope continues on Pope Francis’s legacy of being very progressive with new ideas in the church.”