Robert Prevost is seen in the Vatican's St.Peter's Square as he attends the funeral of Pope Francis on April 26, 2025.
The next month, Prevost would be elected the first American pope, becoming Pope Leo.Franco Origlia/Getty Images hide caption NPR's Daniel Burke and Scott Detrow covered the 2025 conclave that elected Pope Leo XIV.
The following excerpt is adapted from their new biography of Pope Leo, American Pope, out Tuesday.In the days immediately following Pope Francis' death, messages from friends poured into Cardinal Robert Prevost's phone.Father Ramiro Castillo Castro, who had studied under Prevost in the 1990s, was among those who sent condolences."Thank you, Ramiro," Prevost responded.
"We have to pray a lot.Big hug.""Polly and I send our love and prayers for you in these momentous days," wrote John Snider, a Lutheran pastor with whom Prevost had spent a summer in Minneapolis debating theology and learning how to minister to the sick and dying before they were both ordained.Now, decades later, Snider was winding down his career, and Prevost was about to participate in a conclave to elect the next pope.
"As I near retirement, 3 weeks, you are taking on such intense responsibility," he wrote."God is with you!""Everything is in God's hands," responded Prevost, thanking the Sniders for their friendship through the years.John Barry, Prevost's friend dating back to high school, was overcome by the news of Francis' death.
"I know you were close to him and I'm sorry for your personal loss.The world has lost a great man.
You also lost a friend," he wrote.He offered his prayers and then turned to something that Prevost's friends around the world — in Illinois, in Peru, in Rome and elsewhere — were thinking."Okay, now Bob please don't get upset with me, but I believe what [their mutual friend] Jeanette first said — that you could poss...