Robert Prevost Quotes…
Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost, September 14, 1955) is a Peruvian-American Catholic prelate who has been head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State since 8 May 2025. He served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America since 2023. He previously served as Bishop of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015 to 2023, and was prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013. In 2015 Cardinal Prevost became a naturalized citizen of Peru as confirmed by Peru’s National Civil Registry. On May 8, 2025, he was elected Pope, choosing the papal name Leo XIV. He is the first Pope to have been born in the United States, and the first from North America as a whole.(s)
He has a bachelor’s degree from Villanova University in the suburbs of Philadelphia, a master’s from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a doctorate in Church law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
Robert Prevost Quotes
Peace be with you all!
A bishop must not be a little prince sitting in his kingdom.
I would like peace to reach your families, all peoples, the whole earth.”
“Our work is to enlarge the tent and to let everyone know they are welcome inside the Church.”
“We are often preoccupied with teaching doctrine … but we risk forgetting that our first task is to teach what it means to know Jesus Christ,”
Pope Francis has spoken of four types of closeness: closeness to God, to brother bishops, to priests and to all God’s people. One must not give in to the temptation to live isolated, separated in a palace, satisfied with a certain social level or a certain level within the church. And we must not hide behind an idea of authority that no longer makes sense today. The authority we have is to serve, to accompany priests, to be pastors and teachers.
Sometimes the bishop risks focusing only on the local dimension. But a bishop should have a much broader vision of the Church and reality, and experience the universality of the Church. He also needs the ability to listen to his neighbour and seek advice, as well as psychological and spiritual maturity. A fundamental element of the portrait of a bishop is being a pastor, capable of being close to the members of the community.
Pope Leo XIV Quotes
(From an interview of Tiziana Campisi)
Interviewer: You are an Augustinian. How does Augustinian spirituality characterise your ministry?
Cardinal Prevost: We could say several things… As my episcopal motto suggests, unity and communion are part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine and also of my way of acting and thinking. I think it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation and mission are the three key words of the Synod. So, as an Augustinian, promoting unity and communion is fundamental for me. St Augustine also speaks a lot about unity in the Church and the need to live it, about the fact that there is a certain guarantee of unity in listening to the Bishop of Rome, in being part of the Church of Rome. In this sense too, therefore, I feel that the Pope’s new call is a way of living my unity and participation in the Church, in obedience to the Holy Father. This too is very Augustinian.
Interviewer: How much does the figure of Augustine inspire your choices, your steps, your service in the Church?
Cardinal Prevost: St Augustine is certainly a great figure not only for the order but for everyone. I wish I had more time to study and read him. He has so much to offer the Church, even the Church of today. Then there is what I said before: unity in the Church and fidelity to the Bishop of Rome, always seeking to promote communion. Living unity in the Church, as Augustine recommends, means living united in Christ.
Intervistatore: Lei è agostiniano, in che modo la spiritualità agostiniana caratterizza il suo ministero?
Cardinale Prevost: Potremmo dire diverse cose… Come si evince del mio motto episcopale, l’unità e la comunione fanno parte proprio del carisma dell’ordine di Sant’Agostino e anche del mio modo di agire e pensare. Penso che sia molto importante promuovere la comunione nella Chiesa e sappiamo bene che comunione, partecipazione e missione sono le tre parole chiave del Sinodo. Quindi, come agostiniano, per me promuovere l’unità e la comunione è fondamentale. Sant’Agostino, poi, parla molto dell’unità nella Chiesa e della necessità di viverla, del fatto che c’è una certa garanzia dell’unità nell’ascoltare il Vescovo di Roma, fare parte della Chiesa di Roma. Anche in questo senso, quindi, la nuova chiamata del Papa la sento come un modo per vivere la mia unità, la partecipazione nella Chiesa, in obbedienza al Santo Padre. Anche questo è molto agostiniano.
Intervistatore: Quanto la figura di Agostino ispira le sue scelte, i suoi passi, il suo servizio nella Chiesa?
Cardinale Prevost: Sant’Agostino è certamente una figura grande non solo per l’ordine ma per tutti. E magari avessi più tempo per studiarlo e leggerlo. Ha tanto da offrire alla Chiesa, anche alla Chiesa di oggi. Poi è importante quello che dicevo prima: l’unità nella Chiesa e la fedeltà al Vescovo di Roma, cercare sempre di promuovere la comunione. Quel vivere l’unità nella Chiesa che Agostino raccomanda vuol dire vivere essere uniti in Cristo.
“Pope Leo XIV’s first speech” Transcription in Italian at the Vatican Press (Official English translation not yet available)
- Peace be with you all!
Dear brothers and sisters, this is the first greeting of the Risen Christ, the good shepherd who gave his life for the flock of God. I too would like this greeting of peace to enter your heart, to reach your families, to all people, wherever they are, to all peoples, to all the earth. Peace be with you!
This is the peace of the Risen Christ, an unarmed peace and a disarming, humble and persevering peace. He comes from God, God who loves us all unconditionally.
We still keep in our ears that weak but always courageous voice of Pope Francis who blessed Rome!
The Pope who blessed Rome gave his blessing to the world, to the whole world, that morning of Easter Day. Allow me to follow up that same blessing: God loves us, God loves you all, and evil will not prevail! We are all in God’s hands. Therefore, without fear, united hand in hand with God and we move forward with each other. We are disciples of Christ. Christ is before us. The world needs its light. Humanity needs Him as the bridge to be reached by God and His love. Help us too, then one another to build bridges, with dialogue, with encounter, all by uniting us to be one people always at peace. Thank you to Pope Francis!
I also want to thank all my brother cardinals who chose me to be Peter’s successor and to walk with you as a united Church, always seeking peace, justice, always trying to work as men and women faithful to Jesus Christ, without fear, to proclaim the Gospel, to be missionaries.
I am a son of St. Augustine, an Augustinian, who said: “I am a Christian with you and a bishop for you.” In this sense we can all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.
A special greeting to the Church of Rome! We must seek together how to be a missionary Church, a Church that builds bridges, dialogue, always open to receive like this square with open arms. All of them, all those who need our charity, our presence, dialogue and love.
To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, of Italy, of the whole world, we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that walks, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, which always seeks to be close especially to those who suffer.
Today is the day of the Supplication to the Madonna of Pompeii. Our Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, to be close, to help us with her intercession and her love.
Then I would like to pray with you. Let us pray together for this new mission, for the whole Church, for peace in the world and let us ask this special grace from Mary, our mother.
Robert Prevost Quotes
