John Prevost, brother of Pope Leo XIV, holds a portrait of the three Prevost brothers from 1958 — Leo (then Robert), 3, left, John, 4, and Louis, 7 — at his home Thursday, May 8, 2025, in New Lenox, Illinois. (AP photo/Obed Lamy)
Join the Conversation
Send your thoughts to Letters to the Editor. Learn more
The suburban Chicago home of a brother to Pope Leo XIV was the site of a false bomb threat Wednesday night.
Police in New Lennox, Illinois, responded at 6:29 p.m. on April 15 to a report of a possible bomb at the residence of John Prevost, an older brother of Robert Francis Prevost, now known worldwide as Pope Leo and the head of the Catholic Church.
According to a statement published to its Facebook page, the New Lennox Police Department dispatched officers to the home on Sojourn Road and evacuated nearby residents. Special units, including an explosive detection K9, surveilled the area.
"A thorough search of the residence and surrounding property was conducted. After careful examination, investigators determined that the threat was unsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present," the police said in its statement.
No injuries occurred and residents returned to their homes the same evening. The false report remains under investigation.
Micah Nuesse, New Lenox chief of police, confirmed in an email the home was the residence of John Prevost. He told National Catholic Reporter that following protocol police will conduct extra patrols in the area and maintain an increased presence.
Nuesse added there were no updates in the investigation as of midday Thursday.
The threat comes amid a multi-day spat of verbal attacks levied by President Donald Trump and his administration against the pope, stemming largely from Leo's denunciations of the U.S. war in Iran.
On the evening of April 12, Trump posted on his Truth Social online platform that Leo "is WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy."
"I don't want a Pope who criticizes the President of the United States because I'm doing exactly what I was elected, IN A LANDSLIDE, to do," Trump said.
Advertisement
The comments came following a story on "60 Minutes," the CBS News television magazine, that featured three prominent U.S. cardinals and strong allies of Leo, the first U.S.-born pope, voicing criticisms of the Trump administration's war in Iran and its crackdown on immigration. The segment portrayed the pope's own pushback as well against positions and actions taken by the U.S. president.
In his lengthy social media post, the president also expressed fondness for the oldest Prevost brother, Louis, who lives in Florida and has expressed support for Trump and met with him shortly after his brother's election as pope. Louis Prevost sat alongside Vice President JD Vance and second lady Ursha Vance at the inaugural Mass of Leo's pontificate.
"I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA. He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!" Trump wrote on Truth Social.
En route to a 11-day visit to four African countries, the pope responded to the president's verbal critiques by saying he has "no fear of the Trump administration" and would continue speaking out as a peacemaker against war and abuses of the Gospel message.
"Too many people are suffering in the world today, too many innocent people are being killed, and someone has to stand up and say there's a better way," Leo told journalists aboard the papal plane April 13.
The home of the middle Prevost brother is 30 miles west from the home where he and his brothers grew up in Dolton, Illinois.
John Prevost described their childhood in the small Chicago suburb in an interview in December with NCR.
"It was a regular neighborhood. We knew most people on the block and it was in the days where you just went out and played. It was safe; parents trusted that you'd be safe if you ran away and came home for dinner."
