Pope Leo XIV’s brother John Prevost speaks about their relationship

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Pope Leo XIV’s brother John Prevost speaks about their relationship   John Prevost reacts to his younger brother Robert Prevost making history as the first American pope and opens up about their relationship and upbringing.

Transcript

00:00One of the Pope's older brothers, he's joining us now. Thank you for joining us this morning, John.

00:05I see you're on the front lawn of your home right there. Have you had a chance to congratulate your brother yet?

00:12I was able to speak to him yesterday afternoon for about 30 seconds.

00:17What'd you say?

00:18And that's been it. I said, congratulations. And he said, where have you been?

00:24And I said, outside talking to people, so I didn't hear the phone ring.

00:28You have had a pretty much of a whirlwind over the last 24 hours.

00:35Tell us something that might surprise us about your brother.

00:42That would be hard to say, but I suppose the most interesting thing is,

00:46I think from the time he was five or six years old, he knew this was his fate.

00:51Not that he would be a Pope, that he would be a priest.

00:53He knew that from a very young age, and his idea never faltered all through grammar school, high school, college.

01:01Yeah, you said there's some pretty remarkable images. He used to play priest as a child.

01:07That's also true. He would take our mom's ironing board, cover it over with a tablecloth, and we would go to mass.

01:14And if you, I don't mean to be disrespectful, but if you remember an old-fashioned candy called Necco, those were the communion wafers.

01:22The little wafers, yeah, little candy wafers.

01:25Yep, yep, yep.

01:27So it was all taken serious. It was not a joke.

01:30So where do you think this came from? Do you believe he was just born with this calling?

01:40I don't know if he was born with it or if it was a seed planted by our parents, because he went that route,

01:48and I went Catholic school teacher-principal for my career.

01:52So somewhere the seed of faith was planted in us.

01:55Can you imagine what your parents would be?

01:57To tell you exactly when or how this happened?

01:59Yes, you're absolutely correct. I thought about that.

02:02Once people left the house, like 10 o'clock last night, then I was able to think about some of this stuff,

02:08and that was one of the things, how much our parents would be feeling right now.

02:11What do you think they'd be feeling?

02:14Well, extreme joy, extreme pride, and then I think eventually in would come worry

02:21as to how Robert is going to handle this, because it's a heavy weight on his shoulders.

02:28Are you worried for him?

02:31Worried? I don't know that worried would be the right word, but I'm concerned,

02:37because it's quite a responsibility that he's going to face now,

02:41because he's got the task of trying to bring the world's Catholics together,

02:45because I think we're splitting apart quickly.

02:48Splitting apart?

02:48Maybe he can do something to bring it back.

02:51Yeah, I think, well, people are leaving the church.

02:55There's factions in the church.

02:57There's all sides to options.

03:00You know, there's more than one side to an option.

03:02I think he's got to try to face those things and somehow talk about it

03:06and bring people together to talk about it to get worldwide opinions.

03:10I think everyone's hoping that's going to be one of the hallmarks of his papacy.

03:14Have you ever talked about that issue with him,

03:16the fracturing of the church, the fracturing of the faithful?

03:21Just briefly, and I think his main response, in my opinion,

03:27and he may be different than I think, is you will see kind of a second Pope Francis.

03:32I think he'll kind of follow in Pope Francis's footsteps in terms of some of the policies

03:39and the way he conducts himself.

03:42What do you think will be the biggest leap for him as Pope?

03:45How will he have to step outside of himself?

03:49Boy, I bet you at this point he doesn't know,

03:53because who knows what's going to hit him first.

03:54So I think he'll listen to what's being said before he makes that kind of a leap.

04:00If that's too big of a jump, and maybe for the first few days, weeks, months, first year,

04:06look and see what needs to be done and where it needs to be done and who he needs to talk to.

04:13He was, of course, raised in...

04:14Go ahead. I'm sorry.

04:15No, I was going to say he was, of course, raised in Illinois, went to Villanova.

04:18We've been talking about all that.

04:19But how do you think all of his years outside of the United States,

04:24especially in Peru, have formed his thinking and his spirit?

04:29I think that's why I'm saying he's going to follow in Pope Francis's footsteps,

04:34because he knows there are the downtrodden.

04:37He knows there are the poor.

04:39He knows there are the disenfranchised, the people who don't have a voice.

04:42And so I think he will be looking out for that,

04:45because that's where he spent so many years with those people who he worked with

04:50and knows what their needs may be, and maybe he can do something to help them.

04:55The first text I got yesterday after Pope Leo was chosen was something to the effect of,

05:00he is a Cubs fan.

05:01You cleared that up yesterday.

05:04But explain to all of us who are not from Chicago why that is so important,

05:07what it means to be a Sox fan and not a Cubs fan.

05:10Well, Sox fan is south side, Cubs fan is north side.

05:17Our mother's family was north side, and that's where the Cubs came in.

05:23Our father was St. Louis Cardinal, so how Rob picked Sox, one only knows.

05:30But that's where he was.

05:31So I don't know where it came that he was a Cubs fan.

05:34So, yes, I did want to straighten that out.

05:36I'm sure it's important for the country to know that.

05:42You still call him Rob, right, not Pope?

05:47Well, you are absolutely correct, because I never called him father either.

05:51This is my brother the father.

05:53No, he never did that.

05:55So I think it will still continue, Rob.

05:58And I know you're going to be heading to Rome.

06:00What's the most important thing you want to say to your brother when you see him?

06:03Take a moment to relax, and we're proud.

06:11And good luck.

06:13Thank you so much.

06:15That was fascinating to talk to you.

06:17Congratulations on your brother's election.

06:19And for more on the new American Pope, you can see a special 2020 tonight at 9, 8 central, right here on ABC.

06:25Michael?

06:25All right.

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