Robert Francis Prevost is Pope Leo XIV.: As a child, he always wanted to play priests

Robert Francis Prevost (69), who now led the Catholic Church as Pope Leo XIV, felt his appointment early on. As his older brother John Prevost revealed in interviews with the US broadcaster CBS and ABC, Robert already decided that he wanted to become a priest. And even more: In the first class, he should have been predicted that one day he would become a Pope.

Even as a child, the new head of the Catholic Church had a concrete career aspiration. “He wanted to play priests, so he took our mother’s ironing board, put a tablecloth over it and we had to go to the trade fair,” recalls John Prevost.

“He knew the prayers on Latin, he knew the prayers in English and he was constantly praying. He took it very seriously. It was not a joke or game.” A neighbor in her street said to him that he would become the first Pope born in the United States.

John Prevost was convinced in the TV interviews that his brother would become a great pope. It distinguishes him that he is a missionary deep in his heart. “He didn’t want to be a bishop or cardinal, but that was exactly what he asked for,” said the brother. “I think we will experience a second Pope Francis. He will take a lot into his own hands. He is young for a Pope and he is active. So he will be on the road and say his opinion.”

He felt “shock, bewilderment and a lot of proud,” said John Prevost about his own feelings that his younger brother was now the head of the Catholic Church. Although he had no opportunity to speak to him immediately before the appointment, he would travel to Rome on Friday to take part in the celebrations in the Vatican.

In the days before the conclave, Robert Francis Prevost himself did not believe that he could be elected, John Prevost reported. He dismissed his favorite role as “nonsense” and “only talk”. He said: “You won’t choose an American Pope.”

ABC also spoke to the elders of the three brothers. Louis Prevost reported that he was in bed in Florida at home when his youngest brother was appointed Pope. “My wife called and told me that white smoke comes out of the chapel.” He then switched on the live broadcast on TV. “They started reading his name and when he said ‘Bla, Bla, Bla, Roberto’, I knew immediately, that is Rob,” he reports. “I was just glad that I was still in bed, otherwise I might have fallen over.”

Louis Prevost describes his brother as “down -to -earth, humorous and flash”. He loved his work as a missionary in Peru and contact with people. Due to his work for the Vatican, he traveled a lot around the world. He also referred to childhood again: “We always raised him to become a Pope one day. The neighbors said the same thing. And today, over sixty years later, it is time.”