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 — 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.)
