NEW LENOX, Ill: When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel revealing that a new pope had been chosen, John Prevost turned on his television in Illinois, called his niece and they watched in awe as his brother’s name was announced.
“She started screaming because it was her uncle and I was in the moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it’s too far from what we thought would happen,” Prevost said Thursday in an interview with The Associated Press from his home in New Lenox, Illinois.
Next, he said he felt an intense sense of pride that his brother, Cardinal Robert Prevost, had become the 267th pontiff to lead the Catholic Church, making the Chicago-born missionary the first US pope.
“It’s quite an honor; it’s quite a once in a lifetime,” he said. “But I think it’s quite a responsibility and I think it’s going to lead to bigger and better things, but I think people are going to watch him very closely to see what he’s doing.”
Robert Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order who spent his career ministering in Peru, took the name Leo XIV.
John Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice. He said he expects him to be a “second Pope Francis.”
“He’s not going to be real far left and he’s not going to be real far right,” he added. “Kind of right down the middle.”
At one point during the interview, John Prevost realized he had missed several calls from his brother, so he gave the new pope a call back.
Leo told him he wasn’t interested in being part of the interview and after a brief message of congratulations and discussion in which they talked like any two brothers about travel arrangements, they hung up.
The new pope grew up the youngest of three boys. John Prevost, who was only a year older than him, said he remembers Robert Prevost being very good in school as a kid and enjoying playing tag, Monopoly and Risk.
From a young age, he said he knew his brother was going to be a priest. Although he didn’t expect him to become pope, he recalled a neighbor predicting that very thing when Robert Prevost was only a first grader.
“She sensed that at 6 years old,” he said. “How she did that, who knows. It took this long, but here he is, first American pope.”
When Robert Prevost graduated eighth grade, he left for seminary school, his brother said.
“There’s a whole period there where we didn’t really grow up together,” he said. “It was just on vacations that we had contact together.”
These days, the brothers talk on the phone every day, John Prevost said. Robert Prevost will call him and they’ll discuss everything from politics to religion and even play the day’s Wordle.
John Prevost said he’s not sure how much time his brother will have to talk as the new pope and how they’ll handle staying in touch in the future.
“It’s already strange not having someone to talk to,” he said.
Leo XIV’s brother recalls feeling of ‘disbelief’ over his sibling becoming pope
https://arab.news/g7ev4
Leo XIV’s brother recalls feeling of ‘disbelief’ over his sibling becoming pope
- John Prevost described his brother as being very concerned for the poor and those who don’t have a voice
- That makes the Chicago-born missionary the first US pope
Australia to deploy long-range reconnaissance plane to Gulf
- The government says there are about 115,000 Australian nationals across the Middle East, of whom about 2,600 have returned home.
SYDNEY: Australia will deploy a long-range military reconnaissance plane to the Gulf to protect civilians, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said Tuesday.
An E-7A Wedgetail aircraft and supporting defense force personnel will be sent for an initial period of four weeks to help “protect and secure the airspace above the Gulf,” Albanese told a news conference.
Australia also plans to provide advanced, medium-range air-to-air missiles to the United Arab Emirates “in response to a request,” the prime minister said.
The UAE, in which there are an estimated 24,000 Australians, has shot down more than 1,500 rockets and drones fired by Iran in reprisal following US-Israeli strikes, he said.
Albanese said he decided to send the advanced radar surveillance plane to the Gulf following a discussion with UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
“The first priority of my government is, and always will be, to keep Australians safe,” the prime minister said.
“Helping Australians means also helping the UAE and other Gulf nations to defend themselves against what are unprovoked attacks,” he added.
“My government has been clear that we’re not taking offensive action against Iran, and we’ve been clear that we are not deploying Australian troops on the ground in Iran.”
The government says there are about 115,000 Australian nationals across the Middle East, of whom about 2,600 have returned home.
“Significant challenges remain, and further work is underway to support those still seeking to leave,” Albanese said.
Australia said last week it had deployed a heavy transport plane and a fuel transport plane to the Middle East as part of plans to get its citizens out of the region.
Canberra has been careful to make clear that its forces are not engaging in offensive operations against Iran.
On Friday, Albanese revealed that Australian military personnel were aboard an American submarine that sank an Iranian navy ship off Sri Lanka.
The personnel were on the submarine as part of training arrangements under AUKUS, a multi-decade defense pact with Britain and the United States, he said, stressing that they did not take part in the attack.
