Pope Leo's Brother: Yeah, He Saw Conclave Before Conclave

When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel, John Prevost turned on his television and called his niece, and they watched in awe as his brother's name, Robert Prevost, was announced as Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope. "She started screaming ... and I was in [a] moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible, because it's too far from what we thought would happen," John Prevost told the AP Thursday from his home in New Lenox, Illinois. Noting his "intense pride," he says, "It's quite an honor." But he also thinks "it's quite a responsibility, and I think it's going to lead to bigger and better things." More from Prevost from the AP and his interview with NBC Chicago:

• Gameplay: Prevost says he spoke to his brother right before the papal conclave, and that they played their usual Wordle and Words With Friends. "It's something to keep his mind off of life in the real world," Prevost says.
• Conclave: The new pope got to see the movie before he went through the real deal, "so he knew how to behave," Prevost jokes.
• The sage brother: Prevost says that despite Pope Leo being the youngest of three brothers, he's the one usually doling out advice. However, he says he did offer his sibling a nugget of wisdom after the big news: "Be yourself."
• Third brother's take: Louis Prevost says he was similarly shocked. "We heard them read the name, so we knew it was coming," he tells FOX 13 from his home near Port Charlotte, Florida. "And then to see him—it all hit home and became real. It was like, 'Oh, that's Rob ... oh my God ... yay, Rob!'" Prevost says his brother "always had that holy way about him," and that neighbors used to tease that he'd be pope someday.
• More: Although Louis Prevost, who says he talks to his brother two or three times a week, worries he won't get to see his sibling as much now, he also says "he'll do a really good job ... he's a man of the people."
• Parents: John Prevost tells NBC that their parents would've been "speechless" to know how high in the church their son had ascended. "They would be extremely proud," he added. "They only got to see him be priest."

(More Pope Leo XIV stories.)