Pope Leo’s mother was a trailblazer

Mildred Agnes Martinez Prevost — devout Catholic, university graduate, and mother of three — taught her youngest son, Robert, the faith that would one day guide him to the Chair of Saint Peter.

Mildred Agnes Martinez Prevost is the late mother of Pope Leo XIV (far left) and his two brothers, John (middle) and Louis (far right).

Mildred Agnes Martinez Prevost — devout Catholic, university graduate, and mother of three — taught her youngest son, Robert, the faith that would one day guide him to the Chair of Saint Peter.

Those who knew her said Mildred was “practically a saint.” But she was also unmistakably a woman of the world: elegant, educated, and ambitious.

She graduated from DePaul University in 1947, pursued graduate studies, and in 1952, hosted a landmark gathering — “The Catholic Woman in the Professional World” — years before such titles became commonplace.

In her late 30s and early 40s, she gave birth to three boys in quick succession. Like her son, she was a gifted singer — her favorite hymn was Ave Maria.

(This video of the future Pope Leo singing Feliz Navidad in 2014 in Chicaylo, Peru, went viral shortly after this election.)