Before becoming Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost and his older brothers John and Louis grew up living “normal” lives like any other family.
Life was “like anyone elseʼs,” John Prevost said in an April 17 interview with “EWTN News In Depth.”
“It was regular — go to school, come home, do your homework, go out and play, come in, do your studying, go to bed, and then just repeat that.”
“Rob was in Cub Scouts. We were all altar servers,” he said. “I think we were all in the choir … We all went to Catholic education all the way through high school. So I think it was normal. We were out playing. Youʼd play outside until dusk.”
Recalling memories from his childhood, Prevost said: “One time we were building a shed in the backyard and Rob fell through the roof. It was just part of the wood was rotted, because we were using old doors from the house for the roof.”
Prevost and his brothers were also on “Bozoʼs Circus” in 1960. “It was a kids’ program produced by the Chicago local channel WGN. It was an everyday show, and tickets were hard to get. But one of the guys who was in the WGN band taught music to the kids at my dadʼs school.”
“So he said, ‘If you kids ever want to go to “Bozoʼs Circus”’ — well, we jumped at the chance because we were on TV.”
Aside from the funny memories he has of his brothers, Prevost also reflected on his faith during his childhood.
Faith “starts in the home, and then it just gradually would grow and develop. But I think it starts in the home,” he said. “I know periodically our dad would take the Bible out and read Bible stories. We always prayed before dinner. Our parents always, every evening after dinner, prayed the rosary.”
Becoming Pope Leo XIV
Pope Leo always wanted to be a priest, and “from a young age, we always knew that he had that calling,” Prevost said.
“When he was maybe first grade or second grade, one of the moms across the street did say to us when we were out there playing, ‘You know, heʼs gonna be the first American pope,’” he said.
Now as the pope, he “talks about important issues and the way we should take on some of these issues,” Prevost said. He said he is focused on working with the “disenfranchised” and “ignored.”
Pope Leo “has the patience of a saint,” Prevost said. “If you ask me a question … I come out and give you an answer. He would take a lot of time to think about it before he responded, and therefore itʼs a whole lot deeper in perspective than mine off the top of my head.”
In his role as pope, Prevost said he believes his brother is bringing people to the faith. He said: “Iʼve had people come to the door and tell me … ‘I wanted to let you know because of your brother, Iʼm coming back.’”
“I think youʼre seeing that across the country. Because of him, people are coming back to church,” he said.
Life as the popeʼs brother
As the pope’s brother, you have to take it “day by day because you never know, in a sense, what each day is going to bring,” Prevost said.
“Itʼs always interesting, but itʼs sometimes sad … you feel powerless of what people are looking for, and they expect me to be able to help, and I canʼt necessarily do anything for them except listen,” he said.
For the most part, Prevost said his relationship with his brother is the same as it was prior to his papacy, besides it being “more long distance now.” Despite the distance, the brothers still communicate daily.
“One of the first questions I ask is, ‘Did you meet anyone famous today?’ And then on Wednesdays, heʼs got that general audience with the crowds … I always ask, ‘Did you get any gifts?’”
Prevost joked about the amount of gifts Pope Leo receives, which are often treats. “Heʼs got two closets full of them now, so people could stop sending Peeps,” he joked.
The pair also stays in touch by playing the Wordle and Words with Friends. “Itʼs a trade-off. He beats me in Wordle. I usually beat him in Words with Friends,” Prevost said.
Catholic education
Prevost, who worked in Catholic schools as a teacher and a principal, also spoke about the “the importance of Catholic school education.”
In Catholic school, “values are started,” he said. “And I worry sometimes that Catholic schools unfortunately are becoming too expensive for the average person to afford, and if itʼs only going to become something for the wealthy people. I hope not.
“But I see the importance of setting values and of setting modes of standard of behavior that the Catholic school can do, I think, somewhat in a different way than regular public school education can do.”
In Catholic school, “we can teach religion, we can pray,” he said. “We can somehow bring religion into a math class. Not to say that ‘thereʼs six angels here, two go away, how many angels are left?’” he joked.
“But the whole atmosphere and the whole philosophy in the Catholic school is the prime reason we are here, to instill and indoctrinate and teach the Catholic faith to the students,” he said.
