Pope Leo’s Brother Reveals He Watched Conclave Before Taking ‘Awesome Responsibility’
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Before taking a huge responsibility, Pope Leo spent time watching Conclave to understand what to expect and how to behave.
Conclave shows what happens inside the secret room where the new pope is chosen. (Photo Credit: YouTube)
Cardinal Robert Prevost, who is now Pope Leo XIV, on Thursday appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City as the new leader of the Roman Catholic Church. While many might expect a Pope to be serious all the time, it turns out that before taking this huge responsibility, Pope Leo spent time watching the Conclave to understand what to expect and how to behave.
According to his brother, John Prevost, they also played a few popular games to keep his mind away from the pressure. John even jokingly asked if he had his red socks ready. Amid the humour, he made sure to ask if he was ready, to which Leo XIV assured that he felt prepared.
John told NBC Chicago, “First, we do Wordle because this is a regular thing, then we do Words with Friends. It’s something to keep his mind off life in the real world. Then we talk about what’s going on, and I said, ‘Do you have your red socks?’ That doesn’t go over well all the time. Then just that kind of stuff, and I said, ‘Well, are you ready for this? Did you watch the movie Conclave, so you know how to behave?’ And he had just finished watching the movie conclave. So he knew how to behave. So it’s that kind of stuff because I wanted to take his mind off of it, you know, laugh about something because this is now an awesome responsibility.”
Revealing how the former Cardinal spent his childhood, John Prevost said, “I think it was just a normal childhood. There’s not a whole lot I could tell you about him because he left for the Augustinian Seminary right out of 8th grade. He went right from high school seminary and then Augustinian College at Villanova, and then the year of Theology. So he wasn’t home a lot except for summer vacations. So during the year, there really wasn’t a whole lot like his high school years, I don’t know anything really.”
Pope Leo XIV, born and raised in Chicago, made history, becoming the first American-born pope. Normally, choosing a new pope can take several days, weeks or even months, as the cardinals vote inside the Sistine Chapel. But this time, it happened much faster. Pope Leo XIV was elected after just four rounds of voting, and the whole process took only 24 hours.
After the death of Pope Francis last month, the Conclave caught everyone’s attention. The film stars Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, Isabella Rossellini and John Lithgow. It shows what happens inside the secret room where the new pope is chosen.
In the story, Fiennes plays Cardinal Lawrence, who gathers all the eligible cardinals to vote for the next leader. During the process, he discovers some hidden secrets that could cause major problems for the Roman Catholic Church.
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