PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla. – When the College of Cardinals elected the first U.S. pope, making Chicago-born missionary Robert Prevost the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, it was a historical moment.
After Pope Leo XIV was introduced on Thursday, News 6 immediately reached out to his family and friends in the United States and learned that his brother, Louis Prevost, lives in Southwest Florida.
[Watch Louis Prevost speak about his brother being elected as the first American pope]
WINK News went out to meet with Prevost in Port Charlotte to get his first reactions.
“Come to Florida first, come say, ‘Hello,’ because God knows when you’re gonna get a chance to come back again,” Prevost said. “A lot of popes don’t go anywhere. I want to see him. I’d like to see him continue to travel and meet the people.”
Pope Leo XIV is the youngest of three brothers. He attended Villanova University before being ordained in 1982. The 69-year-old is a member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru.