As Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, continues making headlines after his ascension to the papacy, his eldest brother has also drawn attention due to several social media posts contrasting the new pontiff’s message of peace and unity.
Newsweek has reached out to the pope’s brother, Louis Prevost, for comment via email on Wednesday.
Why It Matters
The papal election of Robert Francis Prevost comes at a politically divisive time in the United States, with President Donald Trump as a figurehead drawing both ardent supporters and vocal opponents. Amid the attention, the new pontiff’s eldest brother has drawn scrutiny for social media posts praising Trump and using inflammatory, vulgar rhetoric toward Democrats and transgender people.
The pope’s influence stretches beyond the pulpit, often shaping American life through spiritual leadership, cultural symbolism and, at times, sway over politics and global affairs. His brother’s posts have ignited debate over the intersection of religion and politics.
Louis Prevost’s Public Political Views
Louis Prevost, who often goes by “Lou,” 73, lives in Port Charlotte on Florida’s Gulf Coast. The area is solidly Republican, with Cook Political Report identifying Florida’s 17th District with a partisan voting index of R+10 in 2023.
He is a registered Republican who voted in the last presidential election, according to LexisNexis documents reviewed by Newsweek.
Upon learning of his brother’s election to the papacy, Prevost told Gulf Coast News, “I just hope others, you know, here and overseas, that it doesn’t turn political because, you know, oh, he’s an American. He’s going to screw the church up. Hopefully that doesn’t happen.” He continued, “And let’s just keep the nationalities, nationalism out of it. And let’s just be the Catholic Church and guide the church.”
The social media accounts of Leo’s brother, which were previously public, included posts referring to former Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi as a “drunken c—,” and claimed that anti-Trump Democrats should “be arrested and tried for subversion and even treason against the U.S.A.”
CHANDAN KHANNA/AFP via Getty Images
Louis Prevost’s posts, a swirl of some conspiracy theories and vulgar rhetoric, extend beyond the political figures involved in the most recent November presidential election. In a late-April post reported by WBEZ Chicago, he targeted former President Barack Obama and other Democrats, writing that they are “one very small step from being full blown communists, longing for the total destruction of our way of life and turning the country into a dictatorship, and a racist one on top of it.”
Beyond typical partisan mudslinging, Louis Prevost dives into hot topics, sharing an image in February that said, “Your child isn’t trans, you’re just a sh—ty parent.” An other post told people to keep their “powder dry,” as there’s a potential “war right here at home, a war for our streets and neighborhoods.”
The former Chicagoan, now living in Florida, had hidden his social media posts as of Tuesday. Piers Morgan on Monday asked the pope’s eldest brother about some of his posts, calling the social media shares, “quite lively stuff for a bloke who’s now the pope’s older brother.”
Prevost replied, “Well, I posted it, and I wouldn’t have posted it if I didn’t kind of believe it,” but continued that he would “probably tone it down,” now that his brother leads the Catholic Church and its 1.4 billion worldwide followers.
Many supporters of the Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement praised Louis Prevost’s comments and celebrated the new pope being his brother. Some Trump detractors, however, voiced concern over politics and the close familial connection.
Louis Prevost’s Family Life
The Prevost family from Dolton, Illinois, includes three brothers: Pope Leo XIV, Louis, and John Joseph. Louis Prevost told Fox4 that the siblings stay in close contact, speaking two to three times a week.
Prevost is married to Deborah Coleen Wilson Prevost, and the couple live in Port Charlotte together.
Louis Prevost’s Professional Life
Prevost’s LinkedIn profile says he graduated from DeVry Institute of Technology in Arizona. Newsweek reached out to DeVry for confirmation via email on Wednesday.
Louis Prevost, like his father, is a Navy veteran. He now serves as assistant secretary and webmaster for Florida-based nonprofit USS Paul F. Foster Association, which seeks to connect shipmates from the destroyer. The vessel, decommissioned in 2003, now serves as a self-defense test ship for experimental Navy weapons. Newsweek has reached out to the Navy to confirm his service dates via email on Wednesday.
He has been a “long-time associate” of Snap-On, a manufacturing and marketer of tools and equipment, the company wrote in an LinkedIn post. His LinkedIn profile shows he started with the company in 1990.
What People Are Saying
Jack Posobiec, right-wing political activist, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on May 10: “Turns out the Pope’s brother in Florida is a massive Trump-supporting patriot.”
Jeremy Carl, senior fellow at the Claremont Institute and former deputy assistant secretary of the Interior during Trump’s first term, wrote on X: “No you idiots, you were supposed to pick LOUIS Prevost!”
Louis Prevost said during an interview on Piers Morgan Uncensored, “I don’t know that I’d go that far to say he’s [Robert Francis Prevost] woke. He is probably much more liberal than I am.”
Francis X Rocca, Vatican editor at EWTN News, wrote in an X post on May 14 sharing The New York Times article about Louis Prevost: “This matters because it is bound to inform the Pope’s understanding of political debates within the world’s most powerful nation, and likely to enhance his influence on both sides.”
