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John Prevost knew there was an opportunity his brother could possibly be elected pope.
“Final Saturday once I was at church, one of many monks came visiting and instructed me the chances in Las Vegas had been 18 to 1,” mentioned Mr. Prevost, who lives in suburban Chicago. “He didn’t have a doubt. He thought it might positively be my brother.”
However Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was getting ready for the conclave, shrugged it off when his older brother referred to as from Illinois.
“He mentioned, ‘No means, not going to occur,’” recalled Mr. Prevost, 71, who’s retired from a profession as an educator and college principal.
In fact, it did occur. Cardinal Prevost is now Pope Leo XIV, the primary American pontiff. And for his family and friends again in Illinois, the place the pope grew up, every little thing is completely different.
In a wide-ranging interview on Thursday afternoon at his residence in New Lenox, a tidy metropolis of 27,000 folks about 40 miles southwest of downtown Chicago, John Prevost mirrored on his brother’s ascent to the papacy, the brand new pope’s values and his American roots.
Leo, whom Mr. Prevost is accustomed to calling Rob, “has nice, nice need to assist the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, the people who find themselves ignored,” Mr. Prevost mentioned. He predicted that his brother would keep on the legacy of his predecessor, Pope Francis.
“One of the simplest ways I may describe him proper now could be that he will likely be following in Francis’s footsteps,” Mr. Prevost mentioned. “They had been excellent associates. They knew one another earlier than he was pope, earlier than my brother even was bishop.”
Mr. Prevost mentioned he normally spoke by cellphone together with his brother each evening, however had not talked to him for the reason that conclave started. He mentioned the brand new pope was “easy, actually. He’s not going to exit for a 19-course meal.” Final August, Mr. Prevost mentioned, his brother stayed with him at his residence in New Lenox for just a few weeks.
The brothers grew up in Dolton, Unwell., simply exterior Chicago, and attended church and college at St. Mary of the Assumption Parish on Chicago’s South Aspect. Their father, Louis Prevost, was a college superintendent and their mom, Mildred Prevost, was a librarian who was deeply concerned in parish life. Along with John and Robert, now Leo, the Prevosts had one different son, who now lives in Florida.
The longer term pope left Illinois to attend highschool in Michigan and school in Pennsylvania, however returned to his residence state for graduate college and for varied postings with the Augustinians, the non secular order that he joined. Leo additionally spent a lot of his profession in Peru.
John Prevost described Pope Leo as “center of the highway” and mentioned, “I don’t suppose we’ll see extremes both means.” However, he mentioned, his brother wouldn’t be afraid to make use of this new platform.
“I don’t suppose he’ll keep quiet for too lengthy if he has one thing to say,” Mr. Prevost mentioned. “I do know he’s not proud of what’s occurring with immigration. I do know that for a reality. How far he’ll go along with it’s only one’s guess, however he received’t simply sit again. I don’t suppose he’ll be the silent one.”
Requested if his brother had expressed a need to be pope, Mr. Prevost mentioned “probably not.” However over time, as he ascended the ranks of the church, his reply to that query had began to shift.
“It was ‘completely not, completely not, God forbid,’” Mr. Prevost mentioned. “After which it grew to become, ‘Properly, if it’s what God needs, then we’ll take care of it.’”
Thursday was a blur for Mr. Prevost, whose cellphone rang continuously throughout an interview and whose avenue was lined with information vehicles.
“I get that individuals are as a result of it’s a primary in so some ways,” Mr. Prevost mentioned.
Requested what his mother and father, who died years in the past, can be considering, he mentioned, “They’d be on Cloud 9. Completely unimaginable. You couldn’t even dream this.”
When he’s lastly capable of attain his brother, Mr. Prevost mentioned he deliberate to ask what he would do for leisure and whether or not he would ever actually be off the job. He mentioned he hoped to go see him in Rome, however didn’t know but how that might work.
Within the fast time period, although, there was one essential reality to clear up. The pope, Mr. Prevost mentioned, was not a fan of the Chicago Cubs, as some had reported. He had at all times cheered for the White Sox.
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