The new pope’s brothers revealed they used to tease him about someday becoming the head of the Vatican – but admit they are now spooked by the tidal wave of attention their family faces.
Louis Prevost, the brother of Robert Prevost, who is now Pope Leo XIV, said he was stunned when he watched the conclusion of the Conclave and saw his brother emerge from the Vatican on Thursday.
But he recalled to Fox13 that during their childhoods in Illinois with other brother John, they would joke with him about becoming pope one day – a ‘premonition’ that has now come to pass.
‘We used to tease him about being pope because he always had that holy way about him,’ he said.
‘The neighbors on the street… a lot of them used to say, ‘You’re going to grow up to be pope one day, Robert.’ Our brother? Pope? Nah. Not going to happen.’
John added in an interview with Good Morning America that the brothers’ late parents would be brimming with pride if they had seen Robert ascend to become pope, but admitted they may also be ‘concerned’ for him going forward.
‘It is quite a responsibility he’s going to face now,’ he said.
‘He’s got the task of bringing the world’s Catholics together. People are splitting apart. People are leaving the church, there’s factions in the church… he’s got to try to face those things and bring people together to get worldwide opinions.’
John said that when he saw the news he felt ‘extreme joy, extreme pride… then worry as to how Robert is going to handle this because it’s a heavy weight on his shoulders.’
Louis Prevost, the brother of Robert Prevost, who is now Pope Leo XIV, said he was stunned when he found out his brother was elected as the new papal leader, but admitted he fears he may not get to see him because ‘it’s hard to get in to see the pope’
The siblings grew up with their other brother John in Chicago, and Louis said even as a child they ‘used to tease him about being pope because he always had that holy way about him’
Louis, of Tampa in Florida, described the moment of seeing his brother become pope as ‘shock and awe’, and said ‘to see him, it all hit home and became real.
‘It was like, ‘Oh, that’s Rob… oh my God… yay, Rob!’
Louis said in his most recent phone call with his brother, they discussed the Conclave shortly before the process began.
‘We talked a little bit about it and I said, ‘You know what happens if you win? If they vote for you? Are you going to accept it?’ he recalled.
Louis said his brother responded: ‘I will accept it… It’s God’s will. It’s in his hands.’
Now his brother has shot to worldwide fame, Louis said he has been left wondering ‘if we’ll actually be able to see him again and be with him.’
He said he is sure his brother is ready and ‘will do a really good job, just because he’s a man of the people.’
Louis said he speaks to his brother several times a week, but now fears their conversations may come to an end as his brother is preoccupied in the Vatican, adding: ‘Yeah, I’m the pope’s brother, but it’s hard to get in to see the pope.’
Pope Leo’s brother John (seen with Louis, right, and Robert, left) said their late parents would be brimming with pride, but also ‘concern’ because he is facing ‘quite a responsibility’
Pope Leo XIV and his brothers had a religious upbringing in a quaint 1,200-square-foot brick home in Dolton, Illinois (pictured)
Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected pope on Thursday, taking the name Leo XIV and becoming the first US citizen to lead the Vatican
However, while many Americans celebrated seeing the first US citizen become the pope, Prevost has already seen his tenure marked by allegations of a scandal.
Shortly after his win in the Conclave, it emerged that Prevost faced accusations of ‘looking the other way’ when confronted with child sex abuse allegations against priests in his Chicago and South American churches.
Prevost was accused by a survivors’ group of failing to act upon allegations of abuse in the U.S. and in Peru – concerns they relayed to the cardinals who selected him.
‘Staying silent is a sin. It’s not what God wants us to do. Jesus wants us to stop these things, not make a heathy garden for sexual abuse to grow,’ Lopez de Casas, a victim of clergy abuse and national vice president of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), told DailyMail.com.
Prevost was said to have looked past allegations in Chicago, where he grew up, after Augustinian priest Father James Ray was allowed to live at the St. John Stone Friary in Hyde Park despite having been removed from ministering to the public years prior over accusations of abusing minors.
The new pope allegedly didn’t notify the heads of St. Thomas the Apostle Catholic school, an elementary school half a block from the friary because, the church said at the time, Ray was supposed to be closely monitored in the friary.
Prevost also faced criticism for not having opened a formal church investigation into alleged sexual abuse carried out by two priests in the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, which he led from 2014 to 2023.
Crowds thronged in St. Peter’s Square to see Pope Leo emerge as the new papal leader
While many Americans celebrated seeing the first US citizen become the pope, Prevost has already seen his tenure marked by scandal related to his handling of historic child sex abuse allegations
