Robert Prevost was born on September 14, 1955, in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Son of Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martinez, of Spanish descent. He has two brothers, Louis Martin and John Joseph. He completed his secondary education at the Minor Seminary of the Augustinian Fathers, graduating in 1973. He is considered a follower of Pope Francis. He is a polyglot (speaks six languages).
In 1977, he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.), in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in San Luis. On August 29, 1981, he professed his solemn vows. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, graduating with a bachelor's degree in Theology.
At the age of 27, he was sent by the Order to Rome to study Canon Law at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas (the Angelicum). He was ordained a priest on June 19, 1982. He obtained his Licentiate in 1984, then was sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru (1985-1986). In 1987, he obtained his Doctorate and was elected director of vocations and director of missions of the Marcelo Province.
In 1999, he was elected provincial prior of the "Mother of Good Counsel" Province (Chicago). After two and a half years, the Ordinary General Chapter elected him Prior General, a ministry that the Order entrusted to him again at the Ordinary General Chapter of 2007.
In 1988, he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the joint training project for the Augustinian aspirants of the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos, and Apurimac. There, he was prior of the community (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998), and master of the professed (1992-1998). In the Archdiocese of Trujillo, he was judicial vicar (1989-1998), professor of Canon Law, Patristics, and Moral at the Major Seminary "San Carlos and San Marcelo."
In October 2013, he returned to his Province (Chicago) to be master of the professed and provincial vicar; positions he held until Pope Francis appointed him, on November 3, 2014, as apostolic administrator of the Diocese of Chiclayo (Peru), elevating him to the episcopal dignity of titular bishop of the Diocese of Sufar.
On November 7, he took canonical possession of the Diocese in the presence of the Apostolic Nuncio James Patrick Green; He was ordained bishop on December 12, the feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the Cathedral of his diocese. He has been the bishop of Chiclayo since September 26, 2015. Since March 2018, he has been the second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Pope Francis appointed him member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019 and member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.