The Pope with a ‘twinkle in his eye’: Former protégé describes Robert Prevost, the American set to lead the Catholic Church
The newly elected Pope Leo XIV – Chicago-born Robert Prevost, a member of the Augustinian religious order who spent much of his life ministering to Catholics in Peru – is “a true servant of God,” who lives his life according to St. Augustine’s “core values of truth, unity, and love,” a former protégé who has known him for decades told The Independent.
In a phone interview on Thursday, Fr. Rob Hagan, who was mentored in his earlier years by Prevost, said that he always referred to the 69-year-old Pope as “Bob.”
Now, he said, “referring to him as Pope Leo XIV is just an honor.”
“We are so humbled and grateful for the person that he is, and has been,” Hagan went on. “He’s incredibly bright, he speaks multiple languages – he served a large part of his ministry outside of the U.S., helping the poor and people on the margins. He has a real approachability and warmth, a twinkle in his eye, he’s really a gift to the church and to the world.”
Hagan said that while Prevost, a dark-horse candidate, was chosen to be the first-ever American-born Pope by the College of Cardinals, members of the Catholic community “also believe that the holy spirit is very much guiding the process.”
“For [him] to have emerged as Pope, it is our belief that this was the will of God,” Hagan said. “It’s just wonderful, the peacemaker and unifier that he is.”
St. Augustine was known for his empathy, and the order centers its work on how to best care for the neediest.
As an Augustinian, Prevost will naturally bring a somewhat progressive outlook, relatively speaking, to the papacy, according to Hagan. As an American, Hagan expects Prevost to bring the best of what the United States has historically stood for, he said.
“Do we have problems? Yes. Are we flawed? Yes. But if you think about the values upon which this country was founded: justice, peace, opportunity for all people, I think Leo XIV will embody what is best about American values and really serve in such a way that those values will be lived for all people, of all countries,” Hagan continued. “And that everyone will feel that they are a part of the flock, and that this is a shepherd who is for all the people.”
Prevost’s predecessor, Pope Francis, made a point of focusing his papacy on those considered outsiders, such as the poor, the incarcerated, and the LGBTQ+ community. Francis, a Jesuit who served as Archbishop of Buenos Aires before becoming Pope in 2013, will “cast a long shadow” over Prevost’s upcoming tenure, according to Prof. Erin Galgay Walsh, a scholar of ancient and late antique Christianity at the University of Chicago Divinity School.
Prevost worked very closely with Francis, and both men were students of Latin American liberation theology, with a strong commitment to the poor, Walsh explained.
The tenets of St. Augustine are often “about making sure that each person is taken care of, and has what they need,” Walsh told The Independent.
She said she thinks Prevost will carry forward Francis’s devotion to the excluded, which he may combine with aspects of Pope Benedict XVI’s reputation as an intellectual. When Walsh first heard that Prevost had been elevated to the papacy, her mind “immediately went to Pope Leo XIII.”
Leo XIII, who died in 1903, “is known and remembered for critiquing the excesses of capitalism, and also socialism, and really promoting the welfare of the worker,” Walsh said, adding that Catholics can likely expect the same from Prevost.
“An important message that Catholicism teaches, as we face AI and other challenges, is the dignity of work,” Walsh said.
She sees something very poignant in Prevost’s ascension to Pope as an American who later became a dual citizen of Peru, specifically now that we live “in an age of rising nationalism and [in] a very polarized society.” Walsh thinks Prevost could serve as “a counterpoint” to the form of insularity dominating politics in many places today.
“I always emphasize to my students that the Jesus movement was multilingual and multicultural from the very beginning, and embraced living among others,” Walsh said. “[Prevost] has done that, he embodies that, and perhaps offers Americans an alternative way of thinking about what it means to be an American.”
Raúl Zegarra, a Peruvian-born assistant professor of Roman Catholic theological studies at Harvard Divinity School, called Prevost “quite a remarkable figure.”
He also expects to see “a sense of continuity” with the legacy left by Pope Francis, emphasizing Prevost’s focus on peace during his first address as pontiff.
“The first sentence was about peace, it was the word he said the most in his allocution,” Zegarra told The Independent. “You cannot hear that without thinking about the fact that there are multiple wars going on right now, and as a major spiritual leader, the reiteration of peace is particularly powerful. I think that may signal some of the work he may want to pursue.”
Further, Zegarra said, “the emphasis on a good that lives within all of us, without limits or conditions,” was also very Francis-like.
“It sounds a lot like Francis, and frames the church as one that is open and welcoming, a church for all, a church that builds dialogue, that builds bridges,” Zegarra maintained.
He said it will be “impossible” for many to avoid making comparisons between Prevost and U.S. President Donald Trump, but that “we will inevitably see radical points of contrast.” While Trump and other right-wing leaders are “kind of closing up and not willing to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable,” Prevost will offer a well-defined alternative, according to Zegarra.
Trump himself welcomed the new Pope with a Truth Social post writing, “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!”
At the same time, many in Trump’s orbit were significantly less enthused about the 267th Pope.
“WOKE MARXIST POPE,” far-right conspiracy theorist and alleged Trump concubine Laura Loomer posted on social media following the announcement that Prevost had been elected.
“Of course he’s anti-MAGA and WOKE,” she ranted in a separate post. “Another Open Borders Pope. Gross.”
In a TV appearance last week, former Trump adviser Steve Bannon denigrated Prevost as one of “the most progressive” candidates for the papacy, cautioning that he would not be a friend to the MAGA movement.
As MAGA influencer Vince Langman tweeted after Prevost’s selection was made public, “In case you’re wondering why they picked an American to be a Pope for the first time in history… He’s a WOKE Never Trumper liberal. That’s why!”
Conversely, to Fr. Hagan, Prevost is someone he “always looked up to,” and a person he “has always had a great deal of respect for.”
Prevost “modeled a way of life” that Hagan could aspire to, and has “always been kind to me.” Now, as Pope Leo XIV, Hagan knows his life will be very different from now on.
His message to his onetime mentor?
As Hagan told The Independent, “I certainly just offer my congratulations and my prayers.”
