Pope Leo  XIV

Pope Leo XIV, whose birth name was Robert Francis Prevost, was born in Chicago in 1955. He became the first American Pope after being elected on May 8, 2025 after the death of Pope Francis. He is known for his kindness, love of peace, and dedication to helping others. 

Here are some key facts about Pope Leo XIV:

• First American Pope: He is the first pope to be born in the United States. 
• First Peruvian Pope: After spending more than 20 years in Peru, he obtained citizenship and so has dual nationality.
• Childhood: He and his 2 brothers were altar servers at their parish church.
• Education: He enjoys studying and has degrees in mathematics, Theology and Canon Law. 
• Missionary Work: He spent many years in Peru, working with needy communities and promoting education. 
• Before Papacy: He served as a cardinal under Pope Francis and headed the worldwide Augustinian order. 
• First Speech: In his first speech as Pope, he spoke in Italian and partially in Spanish, as recognition of his love of Peru. 
• Languages: He speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese, and has a reading knowledge of German and Latin. 
• Interests: He is known to enjoy playing Wordle daily and is a big fan of tennis. 

Pope Francis

Pope Francis was born in 1936 in Argentina and is the 266th Pope to lead the Catholic Church since Jesus asked St Peter to be the first leader. He was elected on 13th March 2013 and he chose the name Francis to honour St. Francis of Assisi.

Pope Francis chose not to move into the palace in order to live his life simply and he now lives in a small apartment in Vatican City, in Rome. He often gets the bus to travel around Rome and enjoys cooking his own meals.

Throughout his life, he has been known for his humility, his concern for the poor and his commitment to build bridges between people of all backgrounds, beliefs and faiths. He has expressed concern about the effects of global warming and climate change and has written a special letter called Laudato si’ to the people about how to care for our beautiful planet.

Pope Francis enjoys meeting children and recognises the importance of young people of faith who have the opportunity to make a difference to others and to change the world

Some fun facts about Pope Francis

• Pope Francis loves reading and going to the opera.
• He is a big football fan who supports San Lorenzo who play in the Argentinian premier league.
• Pope Francis also speaks Spanish, Italian French and Latin fluently but also understands English, German and Portuguese
• He only has one lung because the other was removed after a serious infection when he was a teenager.
• Popes usually wear specially made red silk shoes but Pope Francis chooses to wear simple black shoes.
• The title ‘Pope’ comes from the Greek word pappas meaning ‘father’ Pope Francis is the father who guides and supports the 1.3 billon Catholics across the world. Keep up to date with news from the Vatican by following this link: https://www.vaticannews.va/en.html