Carmen Álvarez Cuadrado
Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago and holds Peruvian nationality, but he was 'made in Spain'. His second surname, Martínez, was inherited from his mother who was partly Spanish. But his connection with the country was one he built himself.
ALMUDENA HERNÁNDEZ
Author of Leo XIV, the Lion of Peace
He knows Spain inside out, he has Spanish friends, he has walked through our streets, our cities, the convents, the schools. He has met with bishops, he has driven around. He really enjoys driving, although now he can’t do it as much. And he has traveled hundreds of kilometers along Spanish roads. And he’s going to enjoy it.
And it is not just that he knows Spain. The then-Prevost once visited many of the same places he will now return to as pope, especially in Madrid, the capital.
ALMUDENA HERNÁNDEZ
Author of Leo XIV, the Lion of Peace
Madrid’s Plaza de Cibeles, for example, is just a few meters from the provincial curia of the Augustinians in Spain. He has walked there, had ice cream with friends, and also strolled in front of the Royal Palace, where he will be received by the King of Spain. Our Lion of Peace has passed by the Lions of Cibeles and the Lions of the Congress of Deputies, where he will deliver a historic speech.
Besides writing 'Leo XIV, the Lion of piece, Almudena Hernández is also a journalist. After twelve years covering religious affairs, including the conclave in Rome, she began referring to the pope as “the Lion of Peace.” But she soon realized that nickname had taken on a deeper meaning.
ALMUDENA HERNÁNDEZ
Author of “Leo XIV, the Lion of Peace”
As the days went by, in May or June of last year, I said: ‘Hmm, I’m going to keep this “Lion of Peace” to myself. I won’t post it on social media anymore because it could make a good title for a book.’ So, it became a major 260-page feature work.
The foreword of the book is written by Bishop Luis Argüello, president of the Spanish bishop's conference. To learn about Leo XIV, Almudena interviewed people who have known him for decades. And she began to draw a portrait through small but revealing details: his great sense of humor and his deep spirituality.
ALMUDENA HERNÁNDEZ
Author of “Leo XIV, the Lion of Peace”
They told me, as an anecdote, that the companions who shared many days with him said that even if they stayed up late watching television together in the Augustinian community house, the next morning he was always the first one in the chapel praying. That also shows that he cultivates his inner life as one of the pillars of his existence.
With all the details Almudena discovered while writing the book, one overarching question emerged: could Prevost’s election to the papacy have been predicted?
While it was the work of the Holy Spirit, there are some coincidences that perhaps suggest Robert was already 'the Lion of Peace'—even before the white smoke above the Sistine Chapel.
