Lebanese citizens are eagerly and hopefully awaiting the visit of Pope Leo XIV, scheduled between November 30 and December 2. After years of war, political turmoil, and severe economic and financial hardship, many see this visit as a moment of spiritual and national renewal. President Joseph Aoun chose the theme “Blessed Are the Peacemakers” for the visit, highlighting the Lebanese people’s deep belief in peace and reconciliation.
But who is Pope Leo XIV, the man whose arrival the Lebanese hope will mark a historic turning point?
The First Augustinian Pope
Elected in May of this year as the successor to the late Pope Francis, Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, is the first Augustinian to lead the Catholic Church. He was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, and is the sibling of Louis Martin and John Joseph.
He spent his childhood in the United States and began his religious formation in 1977 with the Order of Saint Augustine, the same year he earned a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Villanova University. He entered the Augustinian monastery of Saint Louis that year and made his first vows in 1978, followed by his solemn vows in 1981.
Prevost studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago and later traveled to Rome to pursue canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982.
A Life Between the U.S. and Latin America
After earning his licentiate in 1984, he was assigned to the Augustinian mission in Peru. In 1987, after completing his doctorate on the role of Augustinian superiors, he returned to Illinois to serve as director of vocations and mission work.
He later returned to Peru, where he spent 11 years leading the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo. During that time, he held multiple roles: community superior, formation director, teacher of canon law and patristics, judicial vicar of the archdiocese, and pastor in some of Trujillo’s poorest neighborhoods.
In 1999, Prevost returned to Chicago and was elected provincial of his order. A few years later, he became the global head of the Augustinian Order, serving two consecutive terms.
Rise Within the Church Hierarchy
In 2014, Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru and titular bishop of Sufar. He was ordained bishop on December 12 of that year, adopting the motto “We Are One in the One Christ,” inspired by Saint Augustine.
He became Bishop of Chiclayo in 2015, vice president of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference in 2018, and a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.
In January 2023, the Vatican called him to Rome as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Later that year, Pope Francis elevated him to cardinal at the September consistory.
In March 2024, during Pope Francis’ final hospitalization, Prevost led a public rosary prayer in Saint Peter’s Square for the Pope’s recovery.
A Visit Full of Expectation
Today, as Pope Leo XIV prepares to visit Lebanon, expectations are running high. Many Lebanese hope his presence will offer spiritual comfort, encourage reconciliation, and open a new chapter for a country long burdened by crises.
