Photo Credit: Vatican Media/AP
Tom Cervone, Ph.D., Maureen Houlihan, D.C., Nicole Cervone-Gish, M.S., and Michael Cervone, B.S.
Our Planet Earth
Author’s note: This website encourages and informs all people to act with Care for Our Common Home.
Introduction
It is with great pleasure we welcome and show love for Pope Leo XIV. He was elected our new pope on May 8, 2025. It took the cardinals two days to decide on Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in Rome, as our 267th pope. Prior to Pope Francis calling him to Rome on January 30, 2023, he spent years as a missionary and bishop in Peru. He’s our first Augustinian pope, first North American pope, and second Roman Pontiff from the Americas. Pope Leo XIV speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French, and Portuguese; reads Latin and German; and is a dual citizen of the U.S. and Peru. According to MLB.com , the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church is "the world's most famous White Sox fan."
Robert Prevost was born on September 14, 1955 in Chicago, Illinois and grew up in Dolton, Illinois. His father was Louis Marius Prevost, and mother, Mildred Martinez. Two of Mildred’s sisters were nuns. He has two brothers, Louis Martin and John Joseph. They grew up in a small house. He was an altar boy; sang in the choir; and attended St. Mary of the Assumption School. His father was an educator, superintendent, and principal. His mother was a librarian. His father died in 1977; his mother in 1990. His two brothers are alive.
He attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan, a boarding school run by the Order of St. Augustine. Emily Burack (Town and Country Magazine on May 8) reported in addition to St. Mary of the Assumption and St. Augustine Seminary High School, he graduated from Villanova University in 1977 with a B.S. in mathematics; received an Honorary Doctor of Humanities degree in 2014; and was the first pope to graduate from this Augustinian Catholic institution. In 1982, he received a Master’s of Divinity degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and became a priest that year. In 1984 and 1987, he received a Licentiate degree and Doctorate degree respectively in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome. St. Pope John Paul II graduated from this prestigious college too.
Some believe Cardinal Robert Prevost took the papal name of Pope Leo XIV because of Pope Leo XIII (1878-1903), who advocated for workers' rights, and also because of his encyclical entitled “Rerum Novarum.” This could suggest Pope Leo’s XIV’s commitment to social justice and a desire to continue the legacy of Pope Leo XIII, and even possibly a desire for continuity with the papacy of Pope Francis, who emphasized social justice and a need to help the poor and marginalized. The name Leo has a long history in the Catholic Church, with previous popes like Pope Leo I (called “Pope Leo the Great”) and Pope Leo IX playing significant roles in church history. Pope Leo the Great (440-461 A.D.) persuaded Attila the Hun in 452 A.D. to not invade Italy, and Pope Leo IX (1049-1054 A.D.) worked for the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Churches to separate.
In Pope Leo XIV’s inauguration mass on May 18, 2025, he offered to all brothers and sisters in the church a unification and relational theme for reconciliation and communion. He called for “a united church －a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world. He said, "I come to you as a brother, who desires to be the servant of your faith and your joy, walking with you on the path of God’s love, for he wants us all to be united into one family.” Pope Leo XIV recalled how love and unity are the two aspects of the mission entrusted to Peter by Jesus.
What Can You Do?
Bishop Joseph Siegel asks “all Catholics in the Evansville Diocese and all people of good will to pray for Pope Leo XIV as he begins his petrine ministry, that the Holy Spirit may bless and guide him as he leads us in love to a deeper faith and hope in the risen Lord Jesus Christ” (The Message, Issue 5/16/2025, page 5).
Encourage governments to protect all countries of the world from war, famine, and damaging the planet.
Promote more participation in the Catholic Church and support greater welcoming and love for all people.
Increase registration in the Laudato Si’ Action Platform to help save the Earth’s many natural resources.
Show a willingness for cooperative efforts and actions to better care for all the people on Planet Earth.
YouTube on Pope Leo XIV:
Quote: “To all of you, brothers and sisters in Rome, in Italy, throughout the world: we want to be a synodal Church, a Church that moves forward, a Church that always seeks peace, that always seeks charity, that always seeks to be close above all to those who are suffering － Pope Leo XIV
Tom Cervone, Ph.D. is the founder of Our Planet Earth. Sister Maureen Houlihan D.C. is a member of the “Care of Earth” Committee of the Daughters of Charity. Nicole Cervone-Gish, Ed. M.S. is an award-winning St. Elizabeth Anne Seton teacher at Holy Spirit. Michael Cervone, B.S. is the programmer and designer of Our Planet Earth website. Special thanks also go out to Caroline Nellis for reviewing this article.
Comments may be directed to ourplanetearth.eco@gmail.com Thank you!