Pope Leo XIV (Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost OSA) was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago, Illinois. He completed his secondary studies at a minor seminary run by the Order of Saint Augustine however upon graduation in 1973, he chose to pursue a science degree.
He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics at the Augustinian founded Villanova University in 1977. Later that year, he decided to join the Order of Saint Augustine.
He took his first vows as an Augustinian in September 1978 and solemn vows in August 1981. He was ordained a priest for the Order of Saint Augustine by Archbishop Jean Jadot in Rome on 19 June 1982.
He earned a Licentiate of Canon Law in 1984 and a Doctor of Canon Law in 1987 from the Pontifical College of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
One of his first assignments as a priest was to the Augustinian mission in Peru. He served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas from 1985 to 1986. He returned to the US in 1987, working as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago.
In 1988 he returned to Peru, where he would spend the next ten years running the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo.
In 1999, he returned to the Augustinian Province of Chicago after being elected its Provincial. In 2001, he was elected as Prior General of the Augustinians for a six-year term. He was re-elected in 2007 for another six-year term.
In 2014, he was appointed Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo and titular Bishop of Sufar. In 2015, he was elevated to Bishop of Chiclayo.
He served as vice-president of the Peruvian Bishops’ Conference from 2018 to 2023. The Conference played an important role in ensuring stability in the country amid successive political crises and overthrows of successive presidents. He served as Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Callao in Peru from 2020 until 2021.
In January 2023, Pope Francis appointed him Prefect of the Dicastry for Bishops. The Dicastry oversees the selection of new bishops, schedules ad limina visits and oversees the formation of new dioceses. He was elected to the Cardinalate later that year.
Prior to the conclave, he was seen as a compromise candidate, who could draw on both curial and missionary experience, while also having a strong diplomatic background.