The Ridge Historical Society
Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost
By Carol Flynn
As for all of south Chicagoland, it came as a great surprise and delight to have the newly elected Pope Leo XIV come from this extended community.
Congratulations and best wishes to Robert Francis Prevost, Pope Leo XIV.
There will be considerable information about his childhood and past coming forward, and RHS will share relevant information that relates to the communities of Beverly, Morgan Park, and Mt. Greenwood, although there is no reason to compete with the many other sources out there, including people who know him personally.
One myth that can be dispelled immediately, however, is that he lived in Beverly. There is no evidence of that.
Fr. Prevost’s life from high school on has been tied to the Order of St. Augustine, known as OSA. This is a “mendicant” religious order, which means the members lead a life of poverty and live in urban areas to preach and be ministers. They do not use the traditional monastic model of living in one community where the members own and work the property. Fr. Prevost spent much of his time in Peru.
In 1999, he was named the Provincial, or head, of the Midwest Province of the Augustinians. At the time, their headquarters were at the St. Nicholas of Tolentine Monastery in Olympia Fields at 20300 S. Governors Highway. They were located there for many years.
He returned to the south suburbs and lived here for a while. In 2001, he was called back to Rome, and after that, he returned to Peru.
The Augustinians owned considerable land in Olympia Fields that they sold off in 2004.
It was some time after that land sale that the headquarters for the Midwest Augustinians moved to 10161 S. Longwood Drive, the Province of Our Mother of Good Counsel of the Augustinian Order, where it is located today. The building was once the convent for St. Barnabas Parish.
The Midwest Augustinians website reports that Fr. Provost returned here in 2013 for a while but his addresses were always Augustinian facilities in the south suburbs.
While he did not live in Beverly, Pope Leo XIV still has a strong connection to the community through the “new” Augustinian headquarters on Longwood Drive.
He now tops the list of "historically important people affiliated with the Ridge communities."