Who is Pope Liu XIV, the first Pontef in the United States? | Religion news

The white smoke has distorted, and the Catholic Church has a The new Pope – He is American.

Cardinals were elected in the Vatican Robert Brevost, born in Chicago, on Thursday to lead the church, the successful Pope FrancisWho died last month.

Prevost took the name Leo XIV because it became the first intensity of the United States.

“Peace be upon you”, his first words were in the name of the Pope.

Here is a look at the new Pope and its journey from the American Middle West to the top of the Church of 1.4 billion people.

What is the background of Pope Liu?

Leo’s father was born in Chicago in 1955 for the parents of French, Italian and Spanish proportions, and his mother was a school principal, and his mother had scientific degrees in library sciences and education, and she participated deeply in St. Mary from the assumption that the family attended.

Last week, and Chicago Sun Times Liu’s friends and colleagues were martyred as saying that he was devoted to his faith and his path to the priesthood from an early age.

Liu graduated with a certificate in mathematics from the University of Villanova in Pennsylvania in 1977. He also studied religion in the Catholic theological Union in Chicago.

In 1982, he obtained a PhD in Church Law from St. Thomas Akwinas’s papal University in Rome before sending it to serve a Catholic mission in Peru.

In subsequent decades, he rose through the church rows, bounced between Chicago and Peru.

Pope Francis, Bishop of Chicoli, Peru, made him in 2015 before he gave him greater responsibilities within the church. In the same year, Prevost also became Peru.

In 2023, he became a conservative of Dicastery for bishops, a major Catholic administrative body, based in Rome.

What is Augustine?

In his first public statements as the Pope, Liu presented himself as Agumatini – which is inside the Catholic Church that follows the teachings of Saint Augustine from the hippopotamus, which emphasizes love, harmony, humility and dedication in the spiritual society of the Church.

The term also describes individuals belonging to religious orders, and Pope Liu is just one of 34 Papo out of 266 to do so.

Such orders are a society of Catholics, which can include priests, nuns, monks and / or ordinary people, devoted to a specific type of mission and spirituality.

Pope Francis was the first Pope of the Jesuit religious system ever, and the first in more than a century and a half comes from any religious system.

What did the Pope say in his first speech?

Liu suggested that he would follow the footsteps of Francis. The late Pope was largely seen as a transformative figure who took the church in a gradual direction and focused on strengthening the rights of the poor and marginalized.

Liu said: “Let’s stay in our ear, the voices of Pope Francis, the weak but always brave, who blessed Rome – the Pope who blessed Rome and the world on that day the morning of Easter.”

In the final Easter messageA few days before his death, Francis called for peace and disarmament.

Why Leo?

When it comes to the Babatoes, the names are important. The new Pope often chooses new names such as praise of saint or ancestor.

For example, Pope Francis The name of St. Francis Asisi, who abandoned material goods and devoted his life to the poor.

The last Leo to lead the Church, Pope Liu XIII, defended the rights of workers.

“Until that time, the hierarchy of the Church tends to get to know the upper layer, and so Liu XIII put a reinsthetic to the church, and certainly many popes have been built on that.”

What is his policy?

Church leaders are not politicians, but religion is intertwined with public affairs. Liu gave hints of his policy over the years, especially in calling for the rights of migrants.

In 2015, Leo participated in an article on Cardinal Timothy Doulan, as he criticized Donald Trump’s proposals to combat immigration. The column was entitled: Why Donald Trump’s anti -immigrant speech is a big problem.

In February, it seemed again that he criticized the Trump administration’s immigration policies, and aims at the vice president JD Vance’s The argument that people should love others near them more than strangers.

Liu shared an article declaring: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus does not ask us to arrange our love for others.”

Where does female priests stand?

The discussion was about allowing women to be a bombardment priest within the Catholic Church, but Liu does not seem to support change.

He told reporters in 2023: “Something that must also be said is that women’s arrangements – there were some women who said this, and it is interesting enough – that” women of religion “does not necessarily solve a problem, and it may be a new problem.”

What did he say about sexual assault scandals?

Liu Augustinian’s order has criticized transparency in dealing with the issues of sexual assault that rocked the church.

In 2023, Liu called for a focus on the victims when it comes to this case.

“There are places where a good job has already been done for years, and the rules are placed into practice. At the same time, I think there is a lot to learn it,” said in the Vatican News in 2023:

“I am talking about the urgency and the responsibility of the accompanying victims.”

How is it compared to other popes, in super terms?

In 69, Leo is smaller than his past two predecessors when they became Pontif. Francis was 76 years old. Benedict XVI was thirty -seven years old. But he is older than John Paul II, who was 58 years old when the Pope – one of the youngest Pontif in modern history.

What does he do in his spare time?

He loves tennis, spends time with friends and “interviewing a wide range of different people”.

“I consider myself amateur tennis player. Since Peru left, I had some occasions to practice, so I look forward to returning to the field.” Website In 2023.