Pope Leo XIV (born Robert Francis Prevost) is the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State. He was elected pope at the 2025 papal conclave on May 8, 2025, following the death of Pope Francis. Prevost was born in Chicago and became a friar in the Order of Saint Augustine during his early years. He became a priest in 1982. He spent many years doing missionary work in Peru from 1985 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1998.
He became prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013, he later returned to Peru in 2015 as Bishop of Chiclayo. In 2023, Pope Francis made him prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. Francis later made him a cardinal the same year. On May 8, 2025, he was elected Pope and chose the name Leo XIV. He is the first ever United States citizen to be voted Pope and the first citizen of Peru to be elected Pope.
Some of the best quotes from Pope Leo XIV are listed below.
- “A lack of faith is often tragically accompanied by the loss of meaning in life, the neglect of mercy, appalling violations of human dignity, the crisis of the family and so many other wounds that afflict our society.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “As long as, as Pope Francis says, they do not assume the role of the clergy and do not become clerical, and live their own baptismal vocation of what it means to be part of the Church, we begin to live with greater clarity.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Do not be afraid to say yes. Do not be afraid to open your heart to the possibility that the Lord is calling you to religious life, or to Augustinian life, or to the priesthood, or to other forms of service in the Church.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Gender ideology is confusing because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “God loves us, all of us, evil will not prevail. We are all in the hands of God. Without fear, united, hand in hand with God and among ourselves, we will go forward.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “I also really enjoy reading, taking long walks, and traveling – seeing and enjoying new and diverse places.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “I am a son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian. He said, ‘With you I am a Christian, for you a bishop.’ So may we all walk together towards that homeland that God has prepared for us.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “I consider myself quite the amateur tennis player.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “I enjoy relaxing with friends and meeting a broad range of different people. Different people can greatly enhance our lives.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “If we learn to live our faith better and learn to invite and include others in the life of the Church, especially the young, some vocations will still come to us.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “It comes from God. God, who loves all of us, without any limits or conditions.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Our blessed Mother Mary always wants to walk with us, be close to us, she always wants to help us with her intercession and her love.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Peace be with you.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Pope Francis has made this very clear on numerous occasions. He does not want bishops who live in palaces. He wants bishops who live in relationship with God, with their brother bishops, with priests and especially with the People of God in a way that reflects the compassion and love of Christ, creating community, learning to live what it means to be part of the Church in an integral way that necessitates a lot of listening and dialogue.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Some misconstrue unity as uniformity: ‘You have to be the same as we are.’ No. This cannot be. Nor can diversity be understood as a way of living without criteria or order. The latter lose sight of the fact that from the very creation of the world, the gift of nature, the gift of human life, the gift of so many different things that we actually live and celebrate, cannot be sustained by making up our own rules and only doing things our way.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “The bishop is not supposed to be a little prince sitting in his kingdom, but rather called authentically to be humble, to be close to the people he serves, to walk with them, to suffer with them, and to look for ways that he can better live the Gospel message in the midst of his people.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “The gift of friendship brings us back to Jesus himself. To have the ability to develop authentic friendships in life is beautiful. Without a doubt, friendship is one of the most wonderful gifts that God has given us.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “The priorities of pastoral work will always be different from one place to another, but recognising the great richness of diversity within the People of God is tremendously useful because it makes us more sensitive when it comes time to better reach out and respond to what they expect from us.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “There are many different cultures, many different languages, many different circumstances around the world where the Church responds.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “This is the peace of the risen Christ, a disarming and humble and preserving peace.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “This work demands that, above all, we stay by their side, seeking more effective ways for the pastors of the People of God to know that they are not alone.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “To be a good shepherd means to be able to walk side-by-side with the People of God and to live close to them, not to be isolated.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “Unity and communion are essential charisms of the life of the Order and a fundamental part of understanding what the Church is and what it means to be in it.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “We are disciples of Christ, Christ goes before us, and the world needs his light. Humanity needs him like a bridge to reach God and his love.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “We have to be a church that works together to build bridges and to keep our arms open, like this very piazza, welcoming.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “We have to learn to embrace it and make it part of our life, to be strong. It is one of those gifts that builds over time, in the small trials at the beginning that help us to be stronger, to be able to carry the Cross when it becomes heavier. It helps us start to move forward, and then keeps us advancing.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “We have to look together how to be a missionary Church, building bridges, dialogue, always open to receiving with open arms for everyone, like this square, open to all, to all who need our charity, our presence, dialogue, love.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “We must pray for that perseverance because none of us is exempt from difficult moments.” – Pope Leo XIV
- “When I think of St Augustine, his vision and understanding of what it means to belong to the Church, one of the first things that springs to mind is what he says about how you cannot say you are a follower of Christ without being part of the Church. Christ is part of the Church. He is the head.” – Pope Leo XIV
