‘Portrait of the First American Pope’ is newly published by EWTN News.

Who is Pope Leo XIV? What is his background and education? How has he served the Lord as a priest, bishop and cardinal? And how will he lead the whole Church as the new Pope?

Readers can look to the past to discover more about the man who became the first truly American Pope.

In his new book, Matthew Bunson dives into the biography of Pope Leo. Leo XIV: Portrait of the First American Pope, available from EWTN Publishing and Sophia Institute Press, is the work of impressively quick research, bringing readers a book about the new Pope just weeks after the conclave. While succinct and readable, it is filled with facts spanning from Robert Prevost’s childhood in Chicago to the Mass beginning his Petrine ministry. Anyone looking to find an overview of where Pope Leo has come from can find it in this book.

Bunson, an award-winning Catholic journalist and writer, who serves as vice president and editorial director of EWTN News, applied his investigation skills to gather a detailed summary of Robert Prevost’s life before his election as pope. Beginning with his early life and education, much is shared about his family, the community and culture of his home on the South Side of Chicago.

But did you know that the day of Leo’s election, May 8, is Venerable Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen’s birthday, a unique connection to another Illinois-born priest? Included in the book is a direct link to another American “Venerable.” Robert Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Mercy Hospital in Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood — the same hospital where Venerable Augustus Tolton, the first Black American Catholic priest, had died 58 years before. Time will tell if Pope Leo is involved in continuing the causes for canonization of these fellow Americans.

Details are shared about his experiences first in Catholic grade school, at St. Mary of the Assumption, and then at St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan (which, readers will learn, has an interesting math-minded connection to our mathematician Pope). His formation by the Augustinians, beginning with Augustinian priests he knew as a child, continued during high school and then undergraduate studies at Villanova University. After graduating, he immediately enrolled in the novitiate for the Midwestern province of the Order of St. Augustine.

Leo’s pastoral perspective, of course, is included. Bunson writes, “In a 2023 interview given shortly after being made a cardinal, Leo spoke about the need to focus on Christ rather than a particular strategy or program: ‘Our priority has to be to live the good news, to live the Gospel, to share the enthusiasm that can be born in our hearts and in our lives when we truly discover who Jesus Christ is.’”

Continuing the biographical summary, the reader will also find information about Pope Leo’s ordination as a priest and missionary work in Peru, where he lived for almost 20 years. He would eventually become the first bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo, serving the people with great charity and dedication. Pope Leo XIV is the first pope since the early Church to work as a missionary, and his global experience will surely augment his unique perspective as he guides the universal Church. Bunson highlights how Pope Leo is the first completely American pope, since he was born and raised in North America and then spent a significant amount of his career serving in South America — so both continents can proudly claim him as their own.

After his time in Peru, Bishop Prevost was called to Rome. He had lived and studied there decades before, completing his licentiate in canon law in 1984 at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas. In 2023, Pope Francis asked him to become head of the Dicastery for Bishops. He began work in Rome and was named cardinal later that year. His role within the administration of the Church at this level, in addition to his two terms as the prior general of the Augustinian Order, certainly helped prepare him for the work he will now do as the Pope.

With an interesting thread that connects the opening and closing of the book, the author draws connections between our new Pope Leo XIV and his predecessor Leo XIII. Quoting from Leo XIII’s 1895 encyclical (Longinqua) to the United States of America, Bunson shows that the needs of the world echo the concerns of more than 100 years ago. Pope Leo XIV chose his name to continue Leo XIII’s application of the Church’s teachings on social justice in the modern world, especially their intent to uphold the dignity of the human person amid rapid changes in technology and social structures. The author notes, “The new Leo is likely to upset nearly every political and ideological faction at one time or another, just as Leo XIII did, by asserting the timeless nature of Christian thought, which transcends all contemporary categories.” The book also looks back on the first Pope Leo, Leo the Great, in whose footsteps they both follow.

Portrait of the First American Pope is the perfect reading material during the dawn of this new Leo’s papacy. We pray that Pope Leo XIV, led by his love for Christ and his people, will guide the Church with wisdom and holiness.