Louis Prevost defended his inflammatory social media posts, but said he’s been attempting to “bite my tongue” since his younger brother’s surprise election as pope
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Pope Leo XIV’s older brother, Louis Prevost, is opening up about his controversial Facebook posts following his brother’s election as the new pope.
Louis entered the spotlight last week when his younger brother — previously known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — was elected to succeed the late Pope Francis as the head of the Catholic church.
The brothers grew up together in Chicago, however, they developed very different personalities — even cheering for the city’s rival baseball franchises. Louis told PEOPLE in a recent interview that he thought his brother was “weird” as a kid because he “always wanted to play priest.”
“Nobody else in our ‘hood played priest, but Robert did. And our parents always supported his wishes in that area,” he recalled. “Mom let him use our ironing board to put a sheet over, and crackers we had for communion. My brother enjoyed this.”
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As adults, their differences have also been evident on social media. Though Louis’ Facebook page has since been made private, he previously shared several inflammatory posts, which included transphobic language, criticism of Biden voters’ mental health and a vulgar slur leveled at Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
“I wouldn’t have posted it if I didn’t kind of believe it,” Louis told Piers Morgan in an interview on Monday, May 12.
However, he admitted that the new scrutiny on his brother has motivated him to try and “tone it down.”
“I had no idea that what was coming was coming this soon,” Louis noted, referencing his brother’s papal promotion. “And I can tell you since then I’ve been … biting my tongue about some of the stuff that is out there on social media.”
“I don’t need to create heat for [Leo],” he added. “He’s going to have enough.”
Prior to his appointment as pope, Leo’s social media activity indicated some discrepancies between his beliefs and the actions of the Trump administration.
In February, Prevost shared two news articles to his X profile. One, titled, “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” refuted Vance’s proclamation about Christian priorities in a Fox News interview. The other delved deeper into the late Pope Francis’ criticism of Vance using the Catholic concept of “ordo amoris” to justify the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
Since taking over the official @Pontifex social media accounts, Leo has shared messages denouncing wars and calling for world peace.
“War is never inevitable. Weapons can and must fall silent, for they never solve problems but only intensify them,” he wrote on Wednesday, May 14. “Those who sow peace will endure throughout history, not those who reap victims. Others are not enemies to hate but human beings with whom to speak.”
