Pope Leo XIV’s older brother has shared how all three siblings remain close amid fresh attacks from President Donald Trump against the pontiff.
The Chicago-native’s life drastically changed when he became the pope nearly a year ago, but one thing that remained consistent was his bond with his brothers, despite how they may differ in political views.
The eldest of the Prevost brothers, Louis, gained national attention when Trump name-dropped him in one of his controversial rebukes of the pope over his stance on the Iran war. The president wrote on Truth Social last month, “I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA.”
But John Prevost, the middle brother, told CNN Wednesday, “Families fight, but family is forever.”
John said he calls Pope Leo daily and the two also chat with Louis at least once a week. The one topic largely off the table during these conversations is politics.
“We keep politics to a limit,” John told CNN host Erin Burnett on her show OutFront Wednesday night. “At certain times the topic may come up, but nothing he may say is going to change my opinion and nothing I say is going to change his opinion. So why discuss it?”
Pope Leo has been unwavering in his message for peace in the Middle East amid the Iran war, which Trump started alongside Israel at the end of February.
The pope spoke out after Trump threatened early last month that “a whole civilization will die tonight” if Iran didn’t agree to open the Strait of Hormuz, a key oil passageway that it has effectively closed in retaliation for the U.S.-Israeli attacks.
Pope Leo called Trump’s threat “truly unacceptable,” telling reporters outside the papal residence in Castel Gandolfo, “I would like to invite everyone to truly think in their hearts about the many innocent people, so many children, so many elderly, completely innocent, who would also become victims of this escalation of a war that began from the very first days.”
Days later, Trump said in a lengthy Truth Social post that the pope is “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.”
In a new attack, Trump accused Pope Leo of “endangering a lot of Catholics,” wrongly claiming on the conservative Salem News Channel this week that the pontiff “thinks it’s just fine for Iran to have a nuclear weapon.”
Pope Leo later said, “For years, the Church has spoken out against all nuclear weapons.”
When asked about Trump’s attacks against the pontiff, John — who Burnett said has faced death threats since his brother became the pope — told the host, “You just keep going.”
“There is a matter of what is known as faith. And it deepens our faith because we do what we’re doing because it’s a role we’ve been put into and we just go ahead and do it,” John added.
