Pope Leo XIV: A biographical timeline May 9, 2025By Maria Wiering OSV News Filed Under: News, Vatican, World News The following are key dates in the life and ministry of Pope Leo XIV, elected May 8, 2025, as the 266th successor to St. Peter: — 1955: Born Sept. 14 in the Chicago area. Pope Francis greets U.S.-born Cardinal Robert F. Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, after the cardinal spoke on behalf of himself and 20 other new cardinals created during a consistory in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican Sept. 30, 2023. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) — 1977: Graduated from Villanova University near Philadelphia and entered the novitiate for the Order of St. Augustine in St. Louis. — 1978: Professed first vows as a member of the Order of St. Augustine. — 1981: Professed solemn vows as a member of the Order of St. Augustine. — 1982: Ordained a priest of the Order of St. Augustine. — 1984: Earned a licentiate in canon law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (Angelicum) in Rome. — 1985: Sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru, until 1986. — 1987: Elected the vocations director and missions director for his order’s Midwest province, Our Mother of Good Counsel. — 1988: Moved to Trujillo, Peru, to direct a joint formation project for the region’s Augustinian aspirants. Over the course of a decade in Trujillo, he served as the community’s prior (1988-1992), formation director (1988-1998) and as an instructor (1992-1998). U.S.-born Archbishop Robert F. Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, poses for a photograph during an event held in the Barberini hall of the Vatican Library July 19, 2023. (CNS photo/Carol Glatz) — 1989: Began serving the Archdiocese of Trujillo for nine years as its judicial vicar; was also a professor of canon, patristic and moral law in the San Carlos e San Marcelo Major Seminary. — 1999: Elected prior provincial for the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel in Chicago. — 2001: Promoted to his order’s prior general, considered its supreme authority that oversees its administration and governance. He was reelected to that role in 2007, holding it for a total of 12 years until 2013. — 2013: Served for a year as a “teacher of the professed” and provincial vicar. — 2014: Appointed by Pope Francis to be apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru. He was simultaneously named a bishop, but of the titular diocese Sufar, under which title he was ordained a month later on Dec. 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. — 2015: Appointed bishop of Chiclayo on Sept. 26. — 2018: Served as second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference until 2023. — 2019: Appointed a member of the Vatican’s Congregation for the Clergy. — 2020: While still bishop of Chiclayo, appointed apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Callao, Peru, a role he held until May 2021. He was also appointed to the Congregation for Bishops. — 2023: Appointed prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, named president of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and granted the title archbishop Jan. 30; installed in those roles April 12. On Sept. 30, elevated to the College of Cardinals. — 2025: Elected pope May 8, taking the name Leo XIV. Read More Vatican News Catholic group helps parishes to share a table with the poor, following pope’s example After Vatican’s excommunication, SSPX in Kenya insists on Catholic identity, fighting archdiocese Pilgrims flock to Castel Gandolfo for Pope Leo’s first summer Angelus Pope Leo shares meal with vulnerable guests at Castel Gandolfo How a baseball rosary found its way to Pope Leo XIV Our Lady of Gietrzwald mosaic unveiled in Vatican Gardens ahead of 2027 Jubilee Copyright © 2025 OSV News Print
