Topics: Catholic Church, Wordle, Religion, US News, World News, Chicago, Pope Leo, Pope Francis
People have been left mind blown after hearing what Pope Leo XIV does in his spare time.
Yesterday (Thursday, May 8), white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican, indicating the papal conclave had successfully elected a successor to the late Pope Francis.
Shortly after, we caught a glimpse of the new pontiff, 69-year-old Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, as he addressed the world from the balcony of St Peter's Basilica for the first time as Pope Leo XIV.
Some fun facts about the 267th pope: he's the first American to take the lofty role in history, being born in Chicago, and he's spent much of his life in Peru as a missionary.
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In all his religious work, it's hard to imagine the studious cardinal, and now head of the Roman Catholic Church, doing much of what us ordinary folk do to pass the time, like watch TV, play video games, or doom-scroll on social media.
Now, it has been revealed Pope Leo isn't really that different than we may think.
His older brother, retired Catholic school principal John Prevost, revealed how their conversation went down to NBC News.
He said: "First we do Wordle, because this is a regular thing OK, then we do Words With Friends. It's something to keep his mind off life in the real world.
"And then we talked about what's going on and I said, 'Well, do you have your red socks?' That doesn't go over well all the time," he joked. "And I said, 'Well, are you ready for this? Did you watch the movie Conclave so you know how to behave?' And he had just finished watching the movie Conclave," John added with a laugh, "So he knew how to behave."
"So it's that kind of stuff because I wanted to take his mind off of it. You know, laugh about something because this is now an awesome responsibility."
Dozens have since said they have been left mind-blown by the revelation, with some realizing that the Pope even has family members.
One said on Reddit: "I may sound really dumb but this video made me realize that the Pope has family…
Idk I just always thought of the Pope as one singular being in his lifeline."
Another replied: "No same!! like it's wild his bro is over here just living in suburbia."
"It's so nice to see the human side of the new pope," said another as many took comfort in the thought of Pope Leo playing games and watching movies with his loved ones.
Meanwhile, John also revealed to CBS Chicago that his younger brother loved to get 'behind the wheel' in his teenage years, but that he was destined for the role of pope, often playing priest as a child.
Like millions around the world, the Prevost family saw the historic moment unfold live on television, only hearing the news when they heard their name being called from the balcony.
John said: "[My niece] screamed and I was sort of, 'Oh my gosh, this is for real. Is this happening?'"
Trying to summarise how he felt in the moment, he said: "Shock. Disbelief. A whole lot of pride. A whole lot of, 'is this for real? Now what are we gonna do?' That kind of stuff, because this is an awesome responsibility that we have to live up to, that he has to live up to."
"People are going to be watching him from now on closer than ever and maybe us too, the family."
John also said he believes Pope Leo will follow in Pope Francis' footsteps, as the two shared a passion for helping the disenfranchised, the poor and the underprivileged.
