León XIV’s Colleagues in Peru Open Up About His Life Before Becoming Pope

In a yellow church tucked into the port city of Callao, Peru priests remembered the man they once served beside. Their voices carried no hesitation. The stories came easily. He ate ceviche with them. He slept in spare rooms. He listened when they needed to speak. The new pope, without a doubt, never acted like a man who wanted power.

From Callao to Chiclayo: A Life on the Road

Long before he became León XIV, Robert Prevost spent years navigating Peru’s streets and sanctuaries. He led during the worst of the pandemic, when oxygen was scarce and funerals were constant. His time there wasn’t ceremonial. It was personal. The kind of service that leaves its mark on both sides of the altar.

“We’re happy and grateful to God for having given us a Peruvian pope. He’s American, but he’s been in Peru, and he’s Peruvian. Here in Callao, he ate ceviche,” Víctor Torres tells EFE, pastor at the Basílica Nuestra Señora del Carmen, where the future pope gave Mass from Easter 2020 through mid-2021. “Pope Francis invited us to listen — to the people of God, to the youth, to those on the existential margins. I believe it’s his ability to listen that propelled him.”

León XIV split his time between Callao and Chiclayo, covering the roughly 500 miles himself, alone at the wheel. He declined offers of help. He stayed where there was space. He didn’t act like a visitor.

“We offered to go with him or drive him, and he always said no,” Torres recalled. “Many times he would sleep at the homes of brothers or family members. He didn’t care where he stayed. He was truly close.”

“In those periods in Callao, he encouraged the priests. But more than anything, he listened to them,” Torres said.

“I value his simplicity. He’s warm, very close, he talks, he knows how to listen. He listened to us when we needed to be heard. I think that’s why they chose him.”

Pope León XIV Has a Legacy Rooted in Service

Fluent in five languages, shaped by communities on the margins, León XIV has emerged as a familiar presence for much of Latin America. His approach echoes the example of Pope Francis, who lived simply, died without wealth, and gave away what mattered most to those who needed it.

“He’s a man of peace,” said José del Rosario, also a priest at the basilica, proudly showing a photo taken during one of the pope’s visits to his home. He believes Pope Francis made him a cardinal because of the great work he did in Peru.

León XIV inherits a church shaped by contradiction. But those who knew him in Callao say he never flinched from difficult moments. They still remember how he helped hunt down medicine and tanks of oxygen for the most vulnerable. They say he made himself small so others could breathe.

He may have been born in Chicago, but many would argue that he’s more Peruvian than a llama in Cusco — and mean it as the highest compliment.