Robert Becomes Pope Leo XIV ! Trump Considers It a Great Honor, He Will Meet the Pope

SAPNewsTL : After Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was entrusted to be the 2670th Roman Pontiff, US President Donald Trump congratulated Pope Leo XIV on becoming the first American to become Pope.

“Congratulations to Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was just named Pope. It is such an honor to realize that he is the first American Pope. What excitement, and what a Great Honor for our Country. I look forward to meeting Pope Leo XIV. It will be a very meaningful moment”.Written by US President Donald Trump through his official page in America, 08/05/2025.

President Trump is surprised by this reality but he is very happy because it is a great honor, he is a Pope of the United States of America.

“We are a little surprised but very happy, it is a great honor, absolutely great,” Responding to international journalists CNN about making plans to meet the Pope ?, Trump declared, “I do, yes. They have called, they have spoken to us, and we will see what happens. But again, in the United States of America. a great honor I was watching and said he was American, I said, “that’s great”. Said President Trump.

Pope Leo XIV thanked all the Cardinals for entrusting him to be the Successor of St. Peter to serve or carry out the mission of peace and justice for all people in the world.

After being elected, Pope Leo XIV left the Sistine Chapel to show himself, greet and bless “Urbi et Orbi” to the many Christians gathered in St. Peter’s Square and everyone in the world.

“I would like to thank the cardinals who have entrusted me to be the Successor of St. Peter to walk together in the unity of the church, where together to see peace and justice, to serve women and men in fidelity to Christ Jesus according to the gospel”. Said Pope Leo XIV in his first speech in St. Peter’s Basilica Vatican, 08/05/2025

Pope Leo XIV said, “To all of you, brothers and sisters of Rome, Italy, the whole world, we want to be a synodal church, a church that walks, a church that seeks charity, that always seeks to be close, especially to those who suffer”.

Robert Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, the 267th Pope from the United States of America. Pope Leo XIV was previously Bishop Emeritus of Chiclayo in Peru, and Cardinal of the Roman Curia of the Catholic Church.

Robert Prevost was appointed as Mayor of the Dicastery of Bishops in January 2023 and succeeds his predecessor, Cardinal Marc Ouellet, in April 2023, after becoming Pope Leo XIV in 2025 from 133 Cardinals from seventy-one (71) countries and five (5) continents.

Journey of Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV, whose full name is Robert Francis Prevost, was born in America on September 14, 1955. Robert Prevost was ordained a priest in 1982 by the Augustinian Congregation, after being ordained a bishop in 2014.

Robert Prevost was born into a family with French, Italian, and Spanish roots. Robert finished his secondary education in the small seminary of the Order of St. Augustine. In 1977, he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics from Villanova University.

Robert Prevost entered the Order of St. Augustine in September 1977, making his first vows in 1978 and perpetual vows in 1981. He received the degree of Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982 and was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982, after his resurrection. doctoral course in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

Robert served in Peru from 1985 to 1986 and from 1988 to 1998 as a parish priest, diocesan officer, seminary professor, and administrator. He spent the years 1987 to 1988 and 1998 to 2001 in the United States, based in Chicago and working in the Augustinian order.

In 1999, Robert Prevost was elected Provincial Prior of the Augustinians of Chicago. Robert served two terms as Prior General of the worldwide Augustinian order from 2001 to 2013.

Pope Francis appointed Prevost Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014, and Bishop in 2015. His episcopal motto is “In Illo uno unum” (“In One, we are one”), reflecting his Augustinian spirituality.

In 2023, Pope Francis appointed Robert Prevost as Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President  of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In that role, he oversaw the selection of new bishops around the world.

On May 8, 2025, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost is elected Pope, taking the name Leo XIV. He was the first Pope of the United States and the second Pope of the Western Hemisphere.

Pope Leo XIV spoke many languages ​​such as English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Latin and German.

For 9 years, Robert Prevost served as a bishop in Peru, after Pope Francis elected him a cardinal on September 30, 2023.

Two years later (2023-2025), Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, Successor of St. Peter, at the age of 70, on May 8, 2025.

Journalist : Marciana da Conceição