Pope Francis Appoints Fr. Robert Prevost, O.S.A., Bishop in Peru
Dear Friends of the Augustinians,
Bishop-elect Robert F. Prevost, O.S.A., of Chiclayo, Peru
Please join me and the Midwest Augustinians along with the rest of the Order and the Church in joyful celebration that the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has chosen our Brother, Fr. Robert F. Prevost, O.S.A., as the next Bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru! (See below for announcement from our Prior General.)
Fr. Bob, our Prior General Emeritus, joins the ranks of Bishops along with John McNabb, O.S.A., Bishop Emeritus of Chulucanas, Peru and Dan Turley, O.S.A., current Bishop of Chulucanas, Peru, as the third bishop from our province!
We will miss his presence in our community, and I will miss him personally as he has taken on quite a bit since returning from Rome: Vicar Provincial, First Counselor, Director of Formation, Board Member for ViIlanova University and Catholic Theological Union to name a few.
He will be traveling this week to Chiclayo to be formally installed as the Administrator of the Diocese; the Ordination will most likely be in December. We will provide further information on a celebration in Chicago for Bishop-elect Bob Prevost, O.S.A. and the details of his Episcopal Ordination in Peru once these plans are finalized. For now, let us rejoice and be glad and assure him of our prayers and support as he undertakes this new ministry!
Sincerely in Christ and St. Augustine,
Fr. Bernie
Very Reverend Bernard C. Scianna, O.S.A., Ph.D.
Prior Provincial of The Midwest Augustinians
Today, Monday, 3 November 2014, the news was announced that our brother, Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., of the Province of Chicago, has been named by Pope Francis as Apostolic Administrator with episcopal character for the Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru.
Bishop-elect Prevost was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago Illinois, USA. He entered the Order as a novice on 1 September 1977 in the Province of Chicago at the province’s novitiate in Saint Louis, Missouri, USA, and professed his first vows on 2 September 1978. He professed solemn vows on 29 August 1981. He completed his philosophical studies at Villanova University, Villanova, Pennsylvania, (1973-1977), and his theological studies at the Catholic Theological Union, Chicago, Illinois (1977-1981). He then came to Rome for doctoral studies and was ordained to the priesthood on 19 June 1982 at Collegio Santa Monica, Rome, Italy. In 1985, he completed doctoral studies in Canon Law at the Pontificia Universitas Studiorum a Sancto Thoma Aquinate in Urbe, “Angelicum” (Rome). During the years 1985-1986 he was sent to the Vicariate of Chulucanas, Peru, and was appointed Chancellor of the Prelature.
He returned to the United States in 1987, where he was in charge of vocational promotion and worked as the Procurator for the missions of his Province. In 1988, he returned to Trujillo, Peru, to initiate the first common formation house between the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurimac. In this community, in service to the pre-novices, and the professed, he occupied the post of Prior (1988-1992), Formation Director (1988-1999), Master of Professed (1993-1998), and as parish priest of the Parish of Saint Mary of Monserrat. In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, Fr. Robert worked as Judicial Vicar (1991-1998) and as Director of Studies at the Seminary “San Carlo y San Marcelo”. He was elected Prior Provincial of the Province of Chicago in 1998 and returned to the USA and began that mandate on 8 March 1999. At the Ordinary General Chapter of the Order in 2001 in Rome he was elected Prior General of the Order, a post he held for two terms ( 2001-2007 and 2007- 2013). In 2013 he returned to his Province where he has been serving as Director of Professed at Saint Augustine Friary, Chicago, Illinois and as Vicar Provincial of the Chicago Province.
On behalf of the entire Order, I wish to extend our sincere congratulations to Bishop-elect Robert F. Prevost as he is called to serve the Church in the episcopate, and let us all together offer him our fraternal support and remembrance in our prayers for him as he undertakes this new ministry.
P. Alejandro Moral Antón, O.S.A.
Prior General O.S.A.
Rome, Curia Generalizia Agostiniana
