Inside Pope Leo XIV’s Untold Journey: From South Side Chicago Truck Obsession to Donating His Inheritance for a Peruvian Church

Before ascending to the papacy as Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost gave away his entire paternal inheritance to pour a concrete foundation for a parish church in Peru. The 71-year-old pontiff also spent his younger years contemplating marriage, obsessing over semi-trucks, and believing his American passport made reaching the Chair of St. Peter an impossible dream.

These striking revelations surface in the biography American Pope: Leo XIV’s Road from the South Side of Chicago to Vatican City, authored by NPR journalists Daniel Burke and Scott Detrow. The book uncovers the quiet, personal sacrifices of a Midwestern kid from Dolton, Illinois, who navigated intense family grief long before stepping into the global spotlight.

From sitting vigil at his mother’s deathbed to answering personal WhatsApp messages from old classmates in minutes, Prevost’s path to the Vatican offers a rare look at modern leadership forged in service, sorrow, and deep community bonds.

Pope Leo XIV

Grief, Sacrifice, and the Final Days in Chicago Heights

Serving as an Augustinian missionary thousands of miles away in Peru, Prevost faced the painful distance separating him from his aging parents in Illinois. In the 1980s, international phone calls were cost-prohibitive, and letters routinely took weeks to cross continents.

His mother received a cancer diagnosis in February 1984. While doctors initially projected she had just six months left, an experimental treatment granted her several more years with her family.

Between 1989 and 1990, Prevost constantly shuttled between Peru and the Midwest, never knowing if a flight home would mark their final conversation. The emotional whiplash took a heavy toll on the close-knit household.

“Toward the end we would say, ‘Uh-oh, it’s over.’ So he’d come up. And then, boom, she’d make a recovery and he’d go back.”

In June 1990, the Prevost family recognized her time was running out. The future pontiff rushed back to Illinois, maintaining a constant presence at her bedside so she would not pass away alone.

Mildred Prevost died on June 18, 1990, at age 77. Her youngest son celebrated her funeral Mass at St. Mary’s—standing at the exact altar where a decade earlier she had knelt to receive Communion from his hands following his ordination.

Building a Church from the Ground Up in Peru

Following his mother’s passing, Prevost invited his grieving father, Louis, to Peru for extended visits. Seminarians quickly embraced the elder Prevost, affectionately nicknaming him “Luigi.”

Despite speaking little Spanish, Louis formed tight bonds through daily prayers, music, and sports. He even sent each Peruvian seminarian a yearly birthday card stuffed with a $20 bill, earning a portrait in the formation house’s chapel that remains there today.

When Louis passed away in November 1997, Prevost chose not to hold onto his family financial legacy. Instead, he channeled his entire inheritance directly into building a concrete foundation for a parish church in Santa Maria.

Before the funding arrived, local residents gathered under makeshift canopies built from thatched leaves and sticks. While Prevost financed the structural base and managed administrative paperwork, he insisted the local parishioners oversee overseas fundraising, ensuring the church remained a community achievement.

Pope Leo

Doubts, Big Rigs, and a Villanova College Life

Though Prevost enrolled in the seminary at age 13, his choice to enter the priesthood was not without internal wrestling. The biography details his quiet considerations about marriage, raising children, and living a conventional suburban life like his parents.

Conversations with his father proved decisive. Louis reminded his son that deep intimacy took many forms beyond romantic partnerships, reassuring him that devotion to God could be equally profound.

Childhood Dreams and College Pranks

Before thoughts of ministry solidified, a young Prevost dreamed of driving long-haul tractor-trailers. Intrigued by the semi-trucks parked on his suburban block, he learned to identify diverse commercial vehicles by examining their wheels and bumpers during road trips.

Later, while completing undergraduate studies at Villanova University, Prevost skipped dating while remaining social. Friends fondly recall him showing up at college gatherings, once donning an oversized mustache and cigar to attend a Halloween party dressed as comedian Groucho Marx.

The Myth That an American Could Never Be Elected

Conventional wisdom across Vatican observers long held that the College of Cardinals would avoid selecting a pontiff from a global superpower like the United States. Even Prevost himself completely bought into this belief.

Ahead of the conclave, he read media commentary quoting Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who characterized an American papacy as an improbable stretch due to America’s sheer economic, military, and geopolitical weight.

Prevost took solace in the idea of impending retirement, even texting friends that he was resting comfortably because an American election remained out of reach.

“Cupich said they aren’t going to elect an American. I’m sleeping well at night.”

When his close friend relayed that comment to their longtime ministry mentor, Sister Thérèse DelGenio, she offered a swift, prophetic critique: “Oops. He forgot about the Holy Spirit.”

Pope Leo XIV wearing a Chicago White Sox baseball team cap in St Peter

Maintaining Old Friendships from Inside the Vatican

Assuming the papal office has not severed the pontiff’s ties to his personal roots. Acquaintances across Chicago and Peru confirm he routinely replies to private emails, texts, and WhatsApp threads in record time.

His digital communication style remains largely identical to his missionary days, with a single formal exception:

• The Old Signature: “Peace and love, Bob”
• The New Signature: “Leone PP. XIV”

He has also preserved his dry Midwestern humor. Asked recently how he navigates eating tomato-sauced pasta every day while dressed entirely in papal whites, the pontiff offered a simple two-word response: “Very carefully.”

✨ From suburban Chicago streets to missionary trenches in Peru, Pope Leo XIV continues to blend everyday humility with historic responsibility.

💬 How do you think his background as an American missionary shapes his approach to leadership?

📱 Drop your thoughts in the comments below and share this story with friends following Vatican history!

Source: people.com