In brief
The eldest brother of Pope Leo XIV, Louis Prevost, reminisces about their upbringing in Illinois, revealing that the future pope was not drawn to typical childhood games but rather embraced the role of a peacemaker, hinting at his potential influence within the Church. Louis recalls teasing him about his future as a pope, expressing mixed feelings about the reality of his brother's election. He describes their upbringing in a Catholic family, highlighting the differences in their viewpoints, particularly regarding conflict and leadership style. While he perceives Pope Leo as potentially more conservative than his predecessor, he remains confident in his brother's capability to lead 1.4 billion Catholics effectively.
As a boy growing up in a suburb of Chicago, the future Pope Leo XIV did not pretend to be a cowboy or a bank robber. Instead, he liked to play priest, according to his eldest brother, Louis Prevost. “We teased him a lot about, ‘Na na na, you’re gonna be the pope,’” Mr. Prevost, 73, recalled in an interview on Friday at his home in Port Charlotte, Florida. But it came as a shock when Robert Francis Prevost — Rob to his family — was indeed elected to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Roman Catholics. “My brother’s the pope,” Mr. Prevost sighed, sitting on his porch. The three Prevost brothers — Louis, Rob, and John — grew up in Dolton, Illinois, just south of Chicago, attending church and school at St. Mary of the Assumption on Chicago’s South Side. Their father, also named Louis, was a school superintendent, while their mother, Mildred Prevost, worked as a librarian. Louis recalls that Rob was always a peacemaker, even while their rough-and-tumble antics sometimes led to scrapes. “Jeez, it was like just yesterday, I was throwing him down the stairs,” he chuckled. “And now he’s pope!” Living on Florida's Gulf Coast since 2020, Mr. Prevost can only speculate on his brother's pontifical approach. He believes that Pope Leo might share some similarities with Pope Francis but likely will not embrace as liberal a stance. “I think he’d be a little more conservative,” Mr. Prevost noted, acknowledging their diverging views, especially regarding conflict. Having served in the Navy, he’s more inclined towards a firmer stance on conflict than the pacifistic views held by Rob. “You come at me, guess what? You’re going to feel the wrath,” he asserted. Mr. Prevost, who enjoys line dancing and has Led Zeppelin as his cellphone ringtone, mentioned speaking with his brother earlier in the week before the conclave convened. Now, he wonders about their communication in the future. “I don’t know that you can just pick up the phone and call the pope,” he mused. “It’s like calling the president or something.” Despite that, he is confident that Pope Leo has a rightful place at the Vatican. “He’ll do a bang-up job,” he said, reflecting optimism about his brother’s impending leadership.
