"I was in a moment of disbelief": LEO XIV's brother John Prevost recalls feelings over his sibling becoming the first American pope

White smoke from the Sistine Chapel on May 8, 2025, signalled the arrival of a new Pope, and soon afterwards, Cardinal Robert Prevost (LEO XIV) was announced as the head of the Catholic Church. The newly elected Pope’s brother, John Prevost, shared his reaction to his brother’s appointment with AP News on May 8, 2025.

Prevost revealed that he was shocked when he heard the news. He shared that when he heard that white smoke had appeared from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, he called his niece to join him to watch the proceedings, adding that when he heard the cardinals call out his brother’s name, his niece screamed, and he couldn’t believe what had happened:

“She started screaming because it was her uncle, and I was in a moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it’s too far from what we thought would happen,”

He added that he was proud of his brother becoming the first Pope from the United States:

“It’s quite an honor; it’s quite a once-in-a-lifetime,” he said. “But I think it’s quite a responsibility, and I think it’s going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he’s doing.”

John Prevost expects his brother, LEO XIV, to be a “second Pope Francis”

In his interview with AP News from his home in New Lennox, Illinois, John Prevost described the new pope as an advocate for the poor and predicted that LEO XIV would be a “second Pope Francis.”

John Prevost added that from a young age, he knew that his brother would become a priest. He recalled that a neighbor predicted that Robert Prevost would become a Pope when he was only a first grader.

Addressing the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square on May 8, 2025, LEO XIV stressed the need for more missionary work in the Catholic Church:

“Together, we must try to find out how to be a missionary church, a church that builds bridges, dialogues, that’s always open to receive — like on this piazza with open arms — to be able to receive everybody that needs our charity, our presence, dialogue and love,”

A May 18, 2025, inauguration will be held in St. Peter’s Square and will mark the formal launch of the new Papacy.

Also read:

1) World leaders welcome Pope Leo XIV as first North American pontiff

2) Who is Robert Francis Prevost? All we know about the newly elected Pope Leo XIV

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