Born in Chicago, Illinois, in 1955, Prevost earned his bachelor’s in mathematics from Villanova University in Pennsylvania and went on to receive his diploma in theology from the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago.
He was later sent to Rome to study canon law at the Pon-tifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University and was ordained as a priest in June 1982. Later in his career, he taught canon law in the seminary in Trujillo, Peru.
As the 267th successor of St. Peter, he succeeds Pope Francis who died on April 21. The late pontiff made Prevost a cardinal in September 2023.