The Vatican introduced the number of a brand new pope to steer the Catholic Church on Thursday, the primary to come back from the USA and the primary to carry a bachelor’s diploma from a U.S. college.
Pope Leo XIV, then Robert Prevost, graduated from Villanova College in 1977.
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost, is a Chicago native who graduated from Villanova College in Philadelphia in 1977 with a bachelor of science in arithmetic. In September of that yr, he joined the Order of St. Augustine. He took his solemn vows in August 1981 and earned a grasp of divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982.
Villanova president Peter M. Donohue mentioned in a press release that the college celebrates the election of Pope Leo XIV.
“I can not assist however replicate on what his Augustinian papacy will imply to our college neighborhood and our world,” Donohue mentioned. “Identified for his humility, mild spirit, prudence and heat, Pope Leo XIV’s management provides a possibility to reaffirm our dedication to our academic mission.”
For many of his profession, Prevost served in Peru, holding roles as a parish pastor, diocesan official, seminar trainer and administrator earlier than turning into bishop of Chiclayo in 2015. In 2023, Pope Francis appointed Prevost prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, which elevated his visibility and affect within the church, placing him on the trail to the papacy.
Along with being the primary pope from the U.S., Leo can also be the primary dual-citizen pope, holding citizenship in Peru. He’s additionally the primary Augustinian friar to be elected pontiff, reflecting Villanova’s Augustinian Catholic roots.
The final pope to take the identify Leo additionally has ties to American greater schooling. Pope Leo XIII (1878–1903) gave his formal approval for the founding of the Catholic College of America in Washington, D.C., on April 10, 1887, and the college acknowledges this date as Founders Day.
