Police are investigating an unsubstantiated bomb threat targeting the Chicago-area home of one of Pope Leo XIV’s two older brothers, the local police chief confirmed to MS NOW.
Public records suggest the home, located in the suburb of New Lenox, belongs to John Prevost. (President Donald Trump recently praised the pope’s other brother, Louis Prevost, in a Truth Social post as being “all MAGA.”)
New Lenox Police Chief Micah Nuesse confirmed to MS NOW that the home targeted by the threat belongs to the pope’s brother.
Police received word of the threat around 6:30 p.m. local time on Wednesday night, according to a news release from the New Lenox Police Department. After securing the home, evacuating nearby properties and searching the property, police determined the threat was unsubstantiated.
The investigation remains ongoing, police said, adding the false report could result in criminal charges. Officials have not speculated on a motive.
John Prevost told The New York Times last year he was “stunned” when his brother was named pope and that he stayed with him at his New Lenox home for a few weeks in August 2024.
In that interview, he also foreshadowed the pope’s ongoing feud with the Trump administration.
“I don’t think he’ll stay quiet for too long if he has something to say,” John Prevost told the Times. “I know he’s not happy with what’s going on with immigration. I know that for a fact. How far he’ll go with it is only one’s guess, but he won’t just sit back. I don’t think he’ll be the silent one.”
The news of the bomb threat comes amid mounting tensions between the Trump administration and the pope, whose criticism of the Iran war has drawn ire from the president.
In late March, after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth delivered a sermon at his monthly Pentagon prayer service and suggested the Iran war was ordained by God, the pope said in his Palm Sunday homily Jesus “rejects war,” adding, “He does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war, but rejects them.”
In a Truth Social post Sunday night, Trump called the pope “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy.” He also said he preferred the pope’s brother Louis Prevost, who lives in Florida and met the president and Vice President JD Vance during a visit to the White House last year.
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“I like his brother Louis much better than I like him, because Louis is all MAGA,” Trump wrote. “He gets it, and Leo doesn’t!”
Hours later, the pope told reporters, “The message of the Gospel is very clear: ‘Blessed are the peacemakers.’”
“I have no fear of the Trump administration,” he added.
On Tuesday, Vance weighed in, saying he believes the pope should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
But the pope has appeared undeterred.
On Thursday, the pope doubled down yet again, saying at a speech in Cameroon, “Woe to those who manipulate religion and the very name of God for their own military, economic and political gain, dragging that which is sacred into darkness and filth.”
MS NOW could not immediately reach John Prevost or Louis Prevost on Thursday.
Renee Agostini contributed reporting.
Julianne McShane is a breaking news reporter for MS NOW who also covers the politics of abortion and reproductive rights. You can send her tips from a non-work device on Signal at jmcshane.19 or follow her on X or Bluesky.