An American in the Vatican

Visibly emotional and sometimes with a vibrating voice, the American Cardinal Robert Prevost (69), born in Chicago and former Bishop of Chiclayo, in Peru, spoke to about 100,000 believers and curious on the Fulled St. Peteriekkk in Rome, as the new Pope and Leader of the Catholic and Leader of the Katholieke. Prevost succeeds Pope Francis, who died on Easter Monday, and thus becomes the 267th Pope in history.

The new pope, who chooses the name Leo XIV, addressed the crowd in Rome in raft Italian and brought a message from Christ’s peace. « To all peoples and the whole world, peace be upon you! God loves you all, and the evil will not prevail. » He argued for a « disarming and disarming peace » – a strong peace message at a time of several large armed conflicts in the world.

For the first time, the leader of almost 1.4 billion Catholics comes from the United States, where around 20 percent of the population describes themselves as a Catholic.

But more than with the West, prevosting with Latin America is associated. For years he was a missionary in Peru, where the late Pope Franciscus got to know him during a visit in 2018. Prevost received a thunderous applause from Sint-Pietersplein when he switched to Spanish, to bring a special greeting to Chiclayo, his old diocese in Peru.

Francis brought him to the Vatican to lead the powerful dicasterie for the bishops

He lives in Rome since January 2023. Francis brought him to the Vatican to lead the powerful dicasterie for the bishops. His new function not only familiarized Prevost with the operation of the Roman Curie, the Vatican’s administrative apparatus, but also earned him broad brand awareness. The dicasterie oversees many episcopal appointments, and Prevost got to know so many cardinals. He also accompanied the late Pope Francis on various international journeys.

‘The heart of a missionary’

It is common for a newly chosen pope to choose a new name. The name Leo XIV is seen as a reference to the predecessor with this name, Pope Leo XIII. That church leader wrote the famous encyclical in 1891 Rerum Novarumwho went deeper into the situation of the working class and, among other things, fought for a fair wage and solidarity with the weak.

« In addition to someone who wants to spread the social doctrine of the church, the new Pope Leo XIV also attaches great importance to synodality, or horizontal consultation within the Catholic Church, » says theologian and Vatican Knner Emmanuel van Lierde, who still spoke Robert Prevost in October 2023.

Prevost is a member of the Augustinian Order, a rather classic monastery community, but Van Lierde noticed that the American had above all the heart of a missionary. « He said during our conversation that he first wanted to become a teacher, but at the same time also had his priest calling, » says the theologian. « When it turned out that the Augustines also sent missionaries, that was the perfect combination for Prevost. As a missionary in Peru everything came together for him. »

Which direction is it going with the Catholic Church, and why did the cardinals choose him? The Augustines are not exactly known as extremely progressive, but although Robert Prevost comes from the United States, he has little in common with the extremely conservative, Pro-Trump cardinal Raymond Burke. In Chicago, Prevost had according to the newspaper La Repubblica Good contact with Cardinal Blaise Cupich, who is very far away from the American president.

Whether it is more of the conservative side with prevost, it still waits, says Van Lierde. « In addition to his management knowledge and his experience here and there in the world, it is also possible that the cardinals see a compromise figure in him that can reconcile different directions. Prevost is in any case more moderate and calmer than Francis. »

Complaint in diocese

Leo XIV also inherits the poor approach to sexual abuse within the church from his papal predecessors. According to The Pillaran American website for investigative journalism around the Catholic Church, three sisters found no hearing when they had reported abuse in the diocese of Chiclayo, in Peru in 2022. The diocese of Chiclayo responded that Prevost had met the women in April 2022 and encouraged them to submit the matter to civil authorities, while establishing a church law investigation.

But the case was not complied with civil law, apparently due to insufficient evidence and because the limitation period had expired. And according to the women, the ecclesiastical research was not serious or substantial enough.

Also the newly deceased Pope Francis, often praised as a social -feeling church leader, did not succeed in force a zero tolerance policy on abuse at the top of the Catholic Church. It remains to be seen whether Pope Leo XIV will formulate a decisive answer to a widespread problem in the church.

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