VATICAN CITY (Holy See): Robert Francis Prevost, the first pope from the United States, has a history of missionary work in Peru but his powerful role within the Roman Curia has also given him a keen grasp of the inner workings of the Church.
The new Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago, was entrusted by his predecessor Francis to head the Dicastery for Bishops, a key Vatican department that advises the pontiff on appointments.
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That role allowed the mild-mannered Prevost, 69, to become known by cardinals within the Curia, the Holy See’s government, despite his decades spent outside of Rome and his native United States.
“Leo XIV is a pastoral pope in his approach, attentive to the peripheries. He’s a natural candidate for the pragmatic reformist bloc,” said Francois Mabille, a researcher at the Paris-based think tank Iris and author of a book on Vatican strategy.
He called Prevost a “moderate consensus candidate” with experience in the Global South who lacks a “clear-cut ideological profile,” making him more acceptable to the Church’s conservative bloc.
Francis’s confidence in Prevost to head one of the Vatican’s most important departments spoke to the younger man’s commitment to the “peripheries” – overlooked areas on the fringes of the Catholic world – together with his reputation as a bridge-builder and moderate.
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After Prevost was named the dicastery’s prefect, Francis elevated the Archbishop-Bishop Emeritus of Chiclayo, Peru – who has dual US and Peruvian citizenship – to cardinal.
