Pope Leo XIV’s older brother said he was sitting in the living room to read a book when he learned of the white smoke that he rose in the Sistine Chapel
Today is – but for John Prevost, it remains your younger brother and “it’s bittersweet” to share it with millions of Catholics around the world.
“When we left him in the first year of the High School, the return trip home was very sad, in the sense that, as he has just said, he is starting – he left”, from CNN, at his home in Chicago. “Now it’s even worse in the sense that we will ever see you, unless we go to Rome.”
As a brother, Predost said “it’s hard” not seeing the Pope often, but his brother’s philosophy is that he will where God calls him to be a follower. “It’s very spectacular. It’s a great honor, but with honor comes a great responsibility,” he said.
In fact, serving the church is something that Pope Leo XIV knew he wanted to do since he was very young, Predost said. When he went to the seminar, it was not a surprise to anyone in the family or neighborhood.
“Somewhere, the seed was planted” to the priesthood, said PREVOST. “And she grew up.”
Despite being thousands of kilometers away now, Predost said he still talks to his brother daily, saying that the Pope called him this Friday to ask if the reporters were still at his home.
“The reporters are gone away? I said no. He said, ‘Ok, goodbye.'”
If they were alive, how would Leão XIV’s parents react?
Pope Leo XIV’s older brother also said he was sitting in the living room to read a book when he learned of the white smoke that he rose in the Sistine chapel.
Little did he know that this would be a moment that would make history. His brother would become the first pontiff born in the US.
Prevost said he turned on the television and called his niece. “We knew nothing,” he said. “When I heard his name, she started screaming.” “History has been made.”
Prevost said everyone accepted from an early age that their brother would become a priest, “but in today’s world, who thought there would ever be a Pope from the United States.”
When asked what his parents would say about the fact that his brother became Pope, Prevost replied, “They would be dumbfounded at first and then they would be as proud as one might be for something like this.”
