Sawt Falasteen - 'You're gonna be the Pope,' Leo XIV's brother recalls telling him

His little brother, Robert Francis Prevost, is now Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope in the Catholic Church's history, an incredible fate for a boy from Chicago who dreamt of becoming a priest.

"We knew from a very early time, maybe when he was five or six, he was going to be a priest. There was no doubt in my mind," Prevost, 73, told AFP from his home in Port Charlotte, Florida.

"When we played games, as kids, he liked to play priest a lot. I thought: 'what the heck? Priest?'

"He bought Necco wafers, little candy discs, and he'd pretend those were communion and give it to all our friends the yard," Prevost recounted with a smile.

"We were teasing him when he was six years old: 'you're gonna be the Pope.' And he didn't like that."

On Thursday, after white smoke billowed out of the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, Prevost recalled feeling nervous because he felt the cardinal chosen to be pope would be his brother.

He turned on the TV, trying to calm down during the prolonged wait got the announcement.

When Cardinal Dominique Mamberti said his brother's name at the Vatican, Prevost burst with joy.

"I was in the bed, sitting down. It's good thing I was because I probably would have fallen over," Prevost said.

"When I thought: 'My brother's the Pope. You're kidding me.' My mind was blown out of this world, it was crazy, ridiculous. So excited."

- 'Out of reach' -

Now with the initial excitement subsiding, he is left wondering how his youngest brother's new role might affect their personal relationship.

"This could be bad for the family. Will we ever see him again? Will we ever get to talk to him like brothers again? Or will it have to be all official? How are you Holy Father, blah, blah, blah. It opens up a lot of questions," Prevost said.

"He's still there, but he's out of reach. We can't just pick up the phone and call him. Now it's got to be really special when you get to call the Pope," he added.

Prevost hopes his other brother, John, will be able to give him some answers when he visits Rome from their hometown of Chicago.

He thinks his brother's papacy will be able to unite the Catholic Church, attract more faithful and make the world a more peaceful place.

"Whether he has the ability to settle, like the Gaza thing or the Russia and Ukraine conflict, who knows? But I've seen him take two warring parties and make peace in five minutes between them," Prevost said. "He's got a gift to communicate to people and make them open their eyes."

He also hopes having an American pope will revitalize the Catholic Church in the United States.

"When he comes to America, he's going to speak English, not Latin or Spanish or Italian," Prevost said.

"People will understand what he's saying. They'll see him, they'll realize he's one of us."

H.Nasr--SF-PST