It sounds as if we won’t be seeing the “Villanova Pope” anytime soon.
It’s been a little over 24 hours since the shocking news that the Catholic Conclave selected Robert Francis Prevost as the first-ever American Pope.
A Chicago native, Prevost graduated from Villanova University in 1977, and soon after entered the seminary. After decades mostly spent abroad, he was serving in Rome when Pope Francis died several weeks ago. He was among those identified as possibilities, but it was thought an American would not be particularly viable at the moment, and his election sent shock waves around the world. As he took on the role, he selected the papal name Leo XIV.
The Rev. Peter M. Donohue, president of Villanova University, was making the rounds on TV Friday and shared that he had emailed to the new pope shortly after his selection was announced Thursday.
“I said congratulations, and jokingly said maybe I could get you for next year’s commencement speaker,” Donohue said in an interview on MSNBC Friday. “And he sent back, thanks, Peter, I appreciate it, but I’m probably going to be busy.”
Donohue said he is hopeful his old friend can visit the campus when he makes a visit to the United States, whenever that might be. His predecessor, Pope Francis, visited Philadelphia in 2016 and Pope John Paul II was here in 1979. Such visits are huge logistical and security undertakings.
Until then, and in the spirit of Quizzo, we thought we’d provide a little question-and-answer to see if you have been keeping up with the voluminous reporting on what had been a relatively unknown person before noon Thursday.
Prevost attended Villanova University and graduated in 1977. What was his undergraduate degree in?
He received a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics.
Where did Prevost live on the Villanova campus?
He lived with several other students from the Midwest in Burns Hall, according to Prevost’s longtime friend and fellow Villanova alumnus Rev. Paul Galetto.
While a student at Villanova, he had a part-time job off campus. What did he do?
Prevost worked as a groundskeeper and as part of the maintenance crew at St. Denis Parish in Havertown, according to CBS3.
What did the future pope do before the conclave?
His brother who lives in Chicago said the two spoke on the phone before the conclave. “First, we do Wordle, because this is a regular thing, OK? Then we do Words with Friends. It’s something to keep his mind off of life in the real world,” his brother John said. Later John asked if his brother he had watched the movie “Conclave” — “So he knew how to behave.” He said he had.
Are there any other now-famous Chicago natives who attended Villanova?
According to friends, Prevost was and remains a big ‘Nova basketball fan. So it’s fitting that he shares some roots with Knicks guard Jaylen Brunson, who is having a moment in the NBA playoffs.
Who else “claims” Leo XIV?
In addition to Villanova and Chicago, Prevost served a significant part of his ministry in Peru, and his election was celebrated there, too. He lived in Peru from 1985 to ’98 as a missionary, teacher and seminary professor, among other things. He returned when Pope Francis named him apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayoa in 2014. He was later promoted to bishop and stayed nearly a decade, until 2023, when he was called to Rome. He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.
