Pope Leo XIV education history: Where did Robert Francis Prevost go to school?
Robert Francis Prevost, who will now lead the Vatican as Pope Leo XIV, is an alumnus of Villanova University. He went to St. Augustine Seminary High School.
Pope Leo XIV has now succeeded late Pope Francis as the leader of the Catholic Church after the Papal Conclave voting concluded a few hours ago. White smoke was seen billowing from the iconic Pristine Chapel after the new Pope was elected.
Prevost won the ballot election in the fourth leg, grabbing on to a lead after three ballots from the last couple of days yielded no result.
Where did Pope Leo XIV study?
According to a Forbes report, Pope Leo XIV attended the St. Mary of the Assumption church in his childhood, which is located on the southern part of Chicago. This place shaped his religious fundamentals, and then he went to St. Augustine Seminary High School.
After completing high school, Prevost went on to study mathematics at Villanova University, after which he returned to his hometown in Chicago and earned a degree in divinity from the prestigious Theological Union of Chicago. While pursuing his degree in divinity, he kept teaching mathematics part-time and occasionally taught physics at Chicago’s St. Rita High School.
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He just did not stop there, and after his degree in divinity ended, he proceeded to take his academic aspirations overseas. He moved to Rome in 1982 to study canon law and during this time, was also ordained as a priest.
More on Pope Leo XIV's education and leadership
Apart from his academic pursuits, he led the Diocese of Chulucanas in Peru in 1985, soon after his commitments in Rome ended. At this time, he was also preparing his thesis on “The Role of the Local Prior in the Order of Saint Augustine," which he then defended in 1987, according to Forbes.
He again came back to Chicago in 1999 to lead the Augustinian Province of Chicago, and his leadership journey with Catholic institutions went on. He was again sent to Peru in 2017, a country he had spent a major part of his life in, by Pope Francis, where he was named bishop. At this time, he was also made a Peruvian citizen.
In 2023, Pope XIV went on to become a cardinal after years of serving the Catholic Church. He will now be handling the reins of the top job at the Vatican after a major Papal Conclave election win.
