This little boy became one of the most influential people in the world – can you guess who he is?

He looks like any other toddler; bright eyes, soft curls and an angelic grin.

However, the boy in this photo would one day turn into a man whose influence would spread across continents.

The black-and-white footage, featured in a recently released documentary, captures him long before the world had heard of him; A baby with plump cheeks and curious eyes.

Few could have imagined that this little boy, Robert Prevost, would one day become Pope Leo XIV.

Years later, another photograph captures him as a teenager, standing among his friends with a shy, closed-lipped smile.

The third shows him on the verge of adulthood, wearing a smart suit and tie. His expression is calm, collected and unfailingly mature; the look of a young man stepping into the world with quiet confidence.

At the time, he was a polite, bookish Midwestern boy remembered by his classmates as “a quiet, kind, gentle, very smart kid.”

And looking at these first photos today, it’s almost impossible to reconcile the wide-eyed boy in these grainy frames with the man who would play such an important role on the global stage.

With his bright, wide eyes and angelic grin, the toddler looks like any other child captured in a family photo album

Looking at these first photos today, it’s nearly impossible to reconcile the wide-eyed boy in these grainy frames with the man now stepping onto the global stage. Image: Pope Leo XIV delivers the benediction after leading his weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square in the Vatican on November 19, 2025

Born in the close-knit suburb of Dolton, Illinois, Pope Pius XIV. Leo grew up in what his siblings described as a “typical Catholic upbringing” in a modest one-bed, one-bath family home filled with children, prayers and routines.

In the new Vatican News documentary Leo from Chicago, Prevost’s older brothers, Louis and John, describe their upbringing in intimate detail the public has never seen before.

Louis recalled that the future Pope’s crib was squeezed into the dining room because ‘the little house we lived in…was basically one bedroom, one bathroom…a kitchen, a living room, a dining room, and then a basement and an unfinished upstairs.’

He was remembered as being extremely content as a newborn – ‘God’s gift to mothers…perhaps he was special from birth.’

Faith framed the house from morning until night. His brother John recalled that every evening after dinner ‘my parents would go into the living room and pray the rosary every day.’

Louis added that their mother was devoted to early morning services: ‘She would leave at 6 in the morning… when she came back we were getting ready for school.’

Except for prayer and church life, the children’s world was entirely ordinary and entirely American.

A few years later, another photograph captures him as a teenager, standing among his friends with a shy, closed-lipped smile.

A third photo shows him on the verge of adulthood, wearing a smart suit and tie.

In this undated photo, Pope Leo

“We were American kids and we ate Americans,” Louis said, recalling hamburgers, Thursday night steaks and fish on Fridays.

They blocked the street to play baseball, biked around the neighborhood, and walked to Catholic schools every day.

Even then, Louis said, there were flashes of the calm authority for which his brother would later become known.

He described an incident in Beaubien Woods where a group of older boys threatened to steal their bikes: ‘Rob said: ‘Well, wait, let me talk to them.’

He added that within minutes the tension disappeared – ‘somehow he calmed them down and got them to be friendly… they almost became our friends.’

Both brothers remembered the early and unmistakable signs of a calling.

According to John, his younger brother transformed the ironing board in the basement into a makeshift altar: ‘He kept the tablecloth ready… we had regular mass… He knew all the prayers, Latin or English.’

Louis remembered that even the nuns saw something in him. ‘Someone said to him, ‘Robert Francis, you might be pope one day.’ ‘We all made fun of him because he didn’t want to hear it.’

According to John, his younger brother was turning the ironing board in the basement into a makeshift altar. Pictured: Robert Prevost, left, and his brothers John and Louis

Born in the close-knit suburb of Dolton, Illinois, Pope Pius XIV. Leo grew up in what his siblings described as a “typical Catholic upbringing” in a modest one-bed, one-bath family home filled with children, prayers and routines. Pictured: Young Robert Prevost (later Pope Leo XIV) with his mother Virginia Mary Sibilla

Prevost completed a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics at Villanova University in 1977 before moving on to theological studies at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he earned a Master of Divinity as part of his preparation for the priesthood. Image: A rare, undated photograph of young Robert Francis Prevost

And years later, when he was ordained in Rome, John said the moment was surreal: ‘He was being ordained by a bishop… and it was a wonderful experience to have some of our family and friends there.’

Following a childhood in Illinois and the first signs of a vocation, Prevost entered the Order of St Augustine as a novitiate in 1977, later taking solemn vows in 1981; it was a lasting commitment that marked his full entry into religious life.

He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Mathematics at Villanova University in 1977 and then began theological studies at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, where he earned a Master of Divinity as part of his preparation for the priesthood.

Prevost then pursued advanced studies in canon law at the Pontifical University of St Thomas Aquinas in Rome – Angelicum – and received both a Bachelor and a Doctorate.

In addition to his academic work, he spent many years in Peru and served in various positions in the Augustinian missions there.

After a childhood in Illinois and the first signs of a career, Prevost moved to St. Louis as a novice in 1977.

Prevost’s service in South America and later responsibilities in Rome brought him into increasing contact with senior Church leaders, eventually leading to his appointment to the Curia under Pope Francis.

Colleagues say he was fluent in several languages, including English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, and could also read Latin and German, skills that later proved valuable when working across different cultures and regions.

During his years in Rome he became known not only for his scholarship but also for his ability to communicate with people from a wide variety of backgrounds.

Prevost’s relationship with Pope Francis developed over years of collaboration within the Curia and was shaped by a shared instinct for mutual respect and pastoral care.

Francis valued his determination and gave him increasingly complex responsibilities.

When his name started circulating at the last conclave, few in the Vatican were surprised.

It’s striking to see how much of the man he became from the soft-faced toddler in the documentary – the boy with bright eyes and a gentle calm – was already there.