The General Prior, Fr. Alejandro Moral Antón, together with his Council, expresses their congratulations and feelings of gratitude to our brother, sending him their most sincere wishes that he may continue to serve the Church with a spirit of wisdom and love.
Pope Francis announced the celebration of a consistory on September 30 for the creation of 21 new cardinals. Mons. Robert Francis Prevost, current Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and Prior General Emeritus of our Order.
In his address, the Holy Father emphasized that these new appointments are a sign that manifests "the universality of the Church, which continues to proclaim the merciful love of God to all people on earth", taking into account that of the 21 new cardinals, many of them exercise their ministries or come from distant countries, beyond the borders of old Europe. This fact, as the Pope pointed out, reflects the union "between the See of Peter and the particular Churches spread throughout the world".
The Prior General, Fr. Alejandro Moral Antón, together with his Council, expresses his congratulations and feelings of gratitude to our brother, conveying to him his most sincere wishes that he may continue to serve the Church with a spirit of wisdom and love.
He assures the prayers of all the sisters and brothers of the Order for him and for the Holy Father Francis.
About Robert Prevost:
Bishop Robert Francis Prevost, 67, born in Chicago, Illinois (USA), on September 14, 1955, entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine (OSA) in 1977, in the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel in St. Louis. He made his solemn vows on August 29, 1981. He studied at Catholic Theological Union-Chicago, where he received a degree in theology.
At the age of 27, he was sent by the Order to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982. He obtained his Licentiate in 1984, then he was sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, Piura-Peru (1985-1986) and in 1999 he was elected Prior Provincial of his Province "Mother of Good Counsel" (Chicago). After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him Prior General, a ministry that the Order entrusted to him again at the Ordinary General Chapter of 2007. In October 2013 he returned to his Province (Chicago) to be Master of the Professed and Vicar Provincial; positions he held until Pope Francis appointed him Apostolic Administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo (Peru) on November 3, 2014, elevating him to the episcopal dignity of titular bishop of the Diocese of Sufar. He has been bishop of Chiclayo since September 26, 2015.
Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and a member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020. As of April 12, 2023, he is prefect of the dicastery for bishops.