A pope who listens - and loves Tim Tams: Who is Robert Prevost? Pope Leo XIV elected

Experts had considered Tim Tam loving Cardinal Prevost the main papabile, for his middle-of-the-range church politics and quiet nature.

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Pope Leo XIV is so familiar with Australia he prefers Tim Tams to Vegemite, but the new Pope’s food preferences have not been the most controversial aspect of his selection by the 133 cardinals in the conclave on Thursday.

Instead Pope Leo, 69, the 267th pope of the Catholic Church, and the first American in the church’s 2000-year history, has well-defined views on a range of topical issues including gender ideology, saying last year “it’s confusing, because it seeks to create genders that don’t exist”.

He also took JD Vance to task on X recently, criticising the US Vice President for his views on Jesus and sharing a post which condemned his statements on immigrant deportation policies.

“Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” he reposted.

Smear campaign

But it’s the smear campaign associating Pope Leo with a sexual abuse coverup that has raised the ire of the Catholic faithful in Vatican City, even before the new pontiff’s inauguration next week.

While world leaders and prominent Catholic voices were congratulating the quietly spoken, multi-lingual new pontiff, social media was exploding with contested claims that Pope Leo was linked to covering up sexual abuse within the church.

Brother Mark O’Connor from the Parramatta diocese has met Pope Leo several times, including a fortnight ago and said a right-wing campaign had been trying to undermine Prevost’s papal candidacy in recent days as it appeared the American-Peruvian had increasing support from both progressive and conservative factions.

Betting experts who had been following Vatican movements for years, had pencilled in Cardinal Prevost as the main papabile, for his middle-of-the-range church politics, and well- liked quiet nature, indicating that his selection wasn’t the shock that some have been claiming.

Pope Leo isn’t “anti-anybody’’, said Brother Mark, adding “but he’s certainly a contrast, he certainly wouldn’t be Trump’s choice”.

He added that some people were “trying a hit job on him’’ in recent days to try and swing votes to other American cardinals.

‘Constructive work’

Brother Mark said Pope Leo had personally attended to the accusations made by three victims against a Peruvian priest Eleuterio Gonzalez and had even been thanked for his interventions.

“He listened to them and did some very constructive work in that case,’’ Brother Mark said.

The National Catholic Reporter said: “Last year the Diocese of Chiclayo formally denied accusations of any coverup in that case, saying the victims were personally attended to by the then-bishop, Cardinal Robert Prevost in April 2022 and their accusations and findings of a local investigation were sent to the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, which investigates accusations of clerical sexual abuse, in July 2022. The Vatican investigation found insufficient evidence, according to the diocese.”

On Thursday the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (Snap) called on Pope Leo to acknowledge the grave reckoning of his position and to institute a zero tolerance for any sexual abuse or coverup in the church.

The network had complained to the Vatican earlier about Cardinal Prevost in relation to his ancient religious order, the Augustinians, which they said had covered up and allowed the transfer of a priest Father James Ray, accused of abusing minors, to be near a catholic primary school in Chicago more than two decades ago.

“The cardinals in the conclave are well aware of sex abuse allegations and they would have taken all of that into consideration when making their vote,’’ one insider said.

The then newly-ordained Robert Prevost, left, with Pope John Paul II in 1982.

Well-connected members of the Curia in Rome said Cardinal Prevost had made a lasting impression in the past three years heading the Vatican’s Dicastery for Bishops, which selects many of the world’s bishops.

Character and quality

One said: “They went for the person, not for the nationality. Normally, they would never pick an American. But in this world with Trump and Putin and Ukraine and Gaza, they were less worried about the nationality and were more concerned about the character and the quality of the person.’’

Pope Leo was born in Chicago as Robert Prevost to immigrant parents - his librarian mother Mildred was of Spanish descent, his educator father Louis Marius Prevost was of French and Italian descent, and he moved to Peru and spent decades there, even taking out Peruvian citizenship.

The new pope adopted a papal name in honour of Pope Leo XIII, known as the father of social justice at the turn of the 20th century. Pope Leo XIV is considered a centrist who can continue Pope Francis’s work, but with a more even-handed and considered, calm manner.

Pope Leo has strong roots in pastoral work in Peru but is also a canon lawyer. His nod to the traditions of the church were evident when he emerged onto the loggia overlooking St Peter’s Square, wearing traditional papal garments, the bespoke hand-stitched white wool cassocks with cape and wide silk sleeves topped with a classic burgundy red mozzetta and a gold embroidered stole.

Pope Francis elevated Robert Francis Prevost to cardinal in 2023. Picture: AFP

‘More interested in listening’

Brother Mark told The Australian: “he doesn’t have a big ego, he is more interested in listening to you rather than talking about himself.’’

He added that when he went to see him recently: “I offered to bring him a present and he said, oh no, not Vegemite, and luckily I had brought Tim Tams, which he loved.’’

Pope Leo has had organisation experience, heading the religious order of Augustinians for 12 years as well as his extensive missionary career.

South American cardinals swung behind Cardinal Prevost, considering him to be one of them, as did cardinals who are members of other religious orders such as Franciscans, Jesuits and Carmelites, appreciating his community-like approach to decision making.

Brother Mark said Leo will be a pope who stands up for the poor and the working class but will be more formal than Francis.

“He used the word bridge building in his first speech on the balcony and that will be significant,’’ Brother Mark said.