Photos: The incredible journey of Leo XIV from priest in Chicago to becoming the new pope

Robert Francis Prevost, who would later become Pope Leo XIV, can be seen in this photo standing fourth from the left along with his second-grade class at St. Mary of the Assumption School in 1962. The image is courtesy of St. Mary of the Assumption School.

In another photograph, Robert Prevost, now serving as Pope Leo XIV, is captured alongside Pope John Paul II in a picture of unspecified date. This image is provided by the Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel/Handout via Reuters.

Robert Prevost seen in an undated image with Pope John Paul II. (Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel/Handout via Reuters)

Undated picture of Robert Prevost with Pope John Paul II. (Augustinian Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel/Handout via Reuters)

Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost is depicted receiving the red biretta from Pope Francis during the consistory held in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican City, Vatican, on September 30, 2023. The moment was captured by Isabella Bonotto/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images.

The exterior of the shuttered St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church, which Pope Leo XIV attended while growing up in Dolton, Illinois, on May 9, 2025. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Robert Francis Prevost during the Ordinary Public Consistory for the Creation of new Cardinal at St. Peter’s Square on Sept. 30, 2023 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

Picture of the Our Lady of Monserrat Parish, in Trujillo, northern Peru, where Robert Francis Prevost was parish administrator from 1992 to 1999, taken on the day of his election as the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff. (Steffano Palomino/AFP via Getty Images)

Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost poses after being elevated to the rank of cardinal at the Vatican, Sept. 30, 2023. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)

Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost and Cardinal Pietro Parolin attend Palm Sunday Mass at St. Peter’s Square on April 13, 2025, in Vatican City, Vatican. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

Picture of the room at the Augustine convent Santo Tomas de Villanueva’s chapel, where Robert Francis Prevost lived between 1988 and 1998, in Trujillo, in northern Peru, taken on the day of his election as the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff. (Steffano Palomino/AFP via Getty Images)

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, attended the 7th Novemdiales Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica on May 02, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images) (Photo by Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

The late Pope Francis greeted Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost during the Mass on the Jubilee of The Armed Forces, Police and Security Personnel at St. Peter’s Square on Feb. 9, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost attends the funeral of Pope Francis in St. Peter’s Square on April 26, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Franco Origlia/Getty Images)

Archbishop Robert Francis Prevost leads rosary prayers for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square on March 3, 2025, in Vatican City. (Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

Cardinal Robert Prevost attended Holy Mass, celebrated for before the election of a new pope in St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, May 7, 2025. (Reuters/Murad Sezer)

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost during a Pro Eligendo Romano Pontifice Mass ahead of the conclave, in which he and the other cardinal electors were called to elect a new pope, at the Vatican on May 7, 2025. (Riccardo De Luca/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost led a prayer service in St. Peter’s Square, as the late Pope Francis continued his hospitalization, at the Vatican, March 3, 2025. (Reuters/Hannah McKay)

Newly elected Pope Leo XIV appears on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)

Pope Leo XIV waves from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, at the Vatican, May 8, 2025. (Reuters/Guglielmo Mangiapane)

Father Ramiro Castillo, vicar superior of the Augustinians of the North, holds a picture depicting Robert Francis Prevost, who became Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025, as he poses with attendees after a mass in his honour at the Our Lady of Monserrat Parish, where the new pope was parish administrator from 1992 to 1999, in Trujillo, northern Peru, on the day of his election as the Catholic Church’s 267th pontiff. (Steffano Palomino/AFP via Getty Images)

Pope Leo XIV leads the Pro Ecclesia Mass in the Sistine Chapel, on May 9, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. (Vatican Media/Vatican Pool – Corbis/Getty Images)

A person takes a picture of the childhood home of Pope Leo XIV in Dolton, Illinois, on May 9, 2025. (Kamil Krzaczynski/AFP via Getty Images)

Pope Leo XIV meets the College of Cardinals in the New Synod Hall at the Vatican, Saturday, May 10, 2025. (Vatican Media via AP)

Pope Leo XIV delivers the Regina Caeli prayer from the main central loggia balcony of St Peter’s basilica in The Vatican, on May 11, 2025. (Alberto Pizzoli/AFP via Getty Images)