The new pope’s Florida-based brother says he fears he may never see his sibling again now he’s leader of the Catholic church.
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.
But he said he fears their weekly conversations may come to an end now 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.’
Louis, of Tampa in Florida described the moment as ‘shock and awe’ to Fox13, and said ‘to see him, it all hit home and became real.
‘It was like, ‘Oh, that’s Rob… oh my God… yay, Rob!’
The siblings grew up with their other brother John in Chicago. Louis says Robert was always so devout they’d 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.’
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 said he talks to his brother up to three times a week, and even discussed the Conclave with him 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.’
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
Prevost is pictured shortly after being ordained as a priest in 1982 with Pope John Paul II
SNAP and other groups say they had made the 135 eligible cardinals who selected him well aware of Prevost’s alleged inaction on the allegations.
‘This person will be scrutinized from left to right,’ said Lopez de Casas, who hopes Prevost’s election will shine a brighter light on abuse within the Church.
‘That’s helpful for victims everywhere because we have this pope who will be under the public eye in terms of things he was involved with in the past,’ he said.
Lopez de Casas, 65, added: ‘He was high on our watchlist at SNAP to make sure he was not selected for pope. But now, here we are.’
