Carmen Álvarez Cuadrado // Santi Taboada
Do you remember how Leo XIV celebrated his 70th birthday in 2025? Let’s listen...
LEO XIV
ORIG. ITALIANO 1:45-2:02
It’s a coincidence, but perhaps providencial, that this servant was born precisely on the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. I really can’t separate the two celebrations.
And it wouldn't be a birthday without blowing out the candles...
Or without a birthday toast. He didn’t do it alone...
Because who says you can’t celebrate your birthday just because you’re pope?
If we go back in time, one German had to celebrate this way. Here’s Benedict XVI in 2017. This is how he turned 90: with a beer in hand.
Some of Francis’ birthdays were like this, sharing cake with the youngest ones.
In any case, a birthday is always a good time to look back on a life story. And this is the story of Robert Prevost, who has just turned 71.
He was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, in the United States. He was the youngest of three brothers. Here they are with their mother, Mildred.
He became an Augustinian at 22 and trained as a philosopher, mathematician, theologian and canon lawyer.
In 1982, he was ordained a priest in Rome, and at 30, he was sent on a mission.
He went to Peru, a country that later granted him citizenship. In 2001, he was elected Prior General of the Augustinians, a position he held until 2013.
After that, he went to Chiclayo as diocesan administrator. A year later, Pope Francis appointed him bishop.
He remained there until 2023, when his meteoric rise began. Francis called him to Rome for a senior position in the Roman Curia: prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. Soon after, he made him a cardinal.
And the rest is history. Prevost entered the conclave dressed in red and came out in white. Today, everyone knows him as Leo XIV.
