John Prevost told “Good Morning America” he was able to speak with his younger sibling on Thursday for about 30 seconds to congratulate him.
He said that if their parents were still alive they would be feeling “extreme joy” and “extreme pride” about their son, but they would also be concerned as to how he would handle his new role because “it’s a heavy weight on his shoulders.”
“I’m concerned,” John Prevost told “GMA” on Friday. “It is quite a responsibility that he’s going to face now because he’s got the task of trying to bring the world’s Catholics together. I think we’re splitting apart quickly. Maybe he can do something to bring it back. People are leaving the church. There are factions in the church. … I think he’s got to face those things and somehow talk about it and bring people together to talk about it, to get worldwide opinion.”
Before he was Pope Leo XIV, Robert Prevost grew up the youngest of three brothers in the South Chicago suburb of Dolton.
He always wanted to be a priest, his older brother, John Prevost, told ABC News outside his home in Illinois on Thursday.
“He knew right away. I don’t think he’s ever questioned it. I don’t think he’s ever thought of anything else,” John Prevost said.
As a child, Pope Leo XIV “played priest,” John Prevost said. “The ironing board was the altar.”
The pope is a White Sox fan, his brother confirmed. “He’s a regular, run-of-the-mill person,” he said.
Leo started to emerge as a front-runner for the papacy in the days before the conclave began, according to the Rev. James Martin, a papal contributor to ABC News.
John Prevost said he also spoke to his brother on Tuesday, before the cardinals went into the secretive conclave, and told his younger brother that he also believed he could be the first American pope. At the time, his younger brother called it “nonsense” and “just talk,” saying, “‘They’re not going to pick an American pope,” John Prevost said.
“He just didn’t believe it, or didn’t want to believe it,” John Prevost said.
John Prevost said he expects his brother will follow in the late Pope Francis’ footsteps as a voice for the disenfranchised and poor.
“I think they were two of a kind,” John Prevost said. “I think because they both were in South America at the same time — in Peru and in Argentina — they had the same experiences in working with missions and working with the downtrodden. So I think that’s the experience that they’re both coming from.”
Louis Prevost, the eldest of the three Prevost brothers, was feeling under the weather and lying in bed at his home in Florida when the big moment came.
“My wife called to tell me there’s white smoke from the chapel,” he said.
Louis Prevost said he tuned in to the live broadcast of the Vatican announcement.
“They started reading his name, and when he went, ‘blah, blah, blah, Roberto,’ immediately I knew — that’s Rob,” he said. “I was just thankful I was still in bed lying down, because I might have fallen down.”
Louis Prevost said he got out of bed and started “dancing around like an idiot.”
“It’s just incredible,” he said. “I’m suddenly wide awake and feeling wonderful.”
He described his brother as “down to earth,” someone who has a good sense of humor and is “smart as a whip.” He loved his work as a missionary in Peru and being with the people, and through his work with the Vatican has traveled the world, Louis Prevost said.
“I thought I had done traveling in the Navy, but, my God, he blew me away,” he said.
His brother surmised that global experience may have stood out to the other cardinals in electing him pope.
Louis Prevost said his brother seemed to always know his calling, and that as young as 4 or 5, the family knew he was destined for great things in the Catholic Church. When his brothers were playing cops and robbers, Leo would “play priest” and distribute Holy Communion with Necco wafers, Louis Prevost said.
“We used to tease him all the time — you’re going to be the pope one day,” he said. “Neighbors said the same thing. Sixty-some years later, here we are.”
Rafael Caro Quintero is one of the most-wanted individuals by U.S. law enforcement after torturing and killing a Drug Enforcement agent in 1985. (Provided by the FBI)
(WASHINGTON) — A once-powerful drug lord convicted of one of the most notorious killings in the history of the Mexican narco wars is among 29 individuals Mexico transferred Thursday to the United States, law enforcement sources told ABC News.
Among those extradited is Rafael Caro Quintero, who was convicted of the 1985 torture and murder of U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agent Enrique “Kiki” Camarena.
Camarena joined the DEA in 1974, the year after its founding.
For more than four years in Mexico, Camarena investigated the country’s biggest marijuana and cocaine traffickers.
In early 1985, close to unlocking a multibillion-dollar drug pipeline, he was kidnapped while headed to a luncheon with his wife. His capture and torture were dramatized in Season 1 of the Netflix show “Narcos.”
Quintero was arrested in Mexico and convicted of Camarena’s murder later that same year.
He was released in 2013 after serving 28 years of his 40-year sentence when a Mexican judge ruled that he had been improperly tried. Quintero promptly went into hiding, as U.S. officials stridently condemned the release.
In 2018, he was added to the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list, with a $20 million reward available for information leading to his arrest or capture.
At the time, the FBI said that he was allegedly involved in the Sinaloa cartel and the Caro-Quintero drug trafficking organization in the region of Badiraguato in Sinaloa, Mexico, and warned that he should be considered “armed and extremely dangerous.”
The criminal ringleader was once again detained in Mexico in 2022, nearly 10 years after his release.
“We will be seeking his immediate extradition to the United States so he can be tried for these crimes in the very justice system Special Agent Camarena died defending,” a statement from then-Attorney General Merrick Garland read.
That effort was fulfilled Thursday, following a staunch effort on behalf of President Donald Trump’s administration to work with Mexico to curb cartels’ activity — including the decision to designate them foreign terrorism organizations.
“Beyond the name that they give, we share with the U.S. government the fight against these groups due to the violence that they leave in the country,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in February.
The extradition comes less than a week before the U.S. is set to impose 25% tariffs on its southern neighbor.
The other 28 individuals extradited to the U.S. alongside Quintero were wanted for their links with criminal organizations for drug trafficking and other crimes, according to Mexican sources.
Notable among them are: José Ángel Canobbio Inzunza (El Güerito), El Chapito’s right-hand; Antonio Oseguera (Tony Montana), brother of wanted drug lord El Mencho from the Jalisco New Generation cartel; Miguel Ángel y Óscar Omar Treviño Morales (Z40 y Z42) from Los Zetas; and Vicente Carrillo Fuentes (El Viceroy) from the Juárez cartel.
Quintero is expected to be arraigned in Brooklyn Federal Court late Friday morning. DEA agents are expected to pack the courtroom and speak outside court after the arraignment.
ABC News’ T. Michelle Murphy contributed to this report.
Sudiksha Konanki is seen in this undated photo shared to Meta. (Sudiksha Konanki via Meta)
(PUNTA CANA, DR) — Lawyers for the Minnesota college student who was with University of Pittsburgh student Sudiksha Konanki the night she went missing in Punta Cana have requested a habeas corpus hearing, a source from the Dominican Republic Ministry of Justice told ABC News.
Joshua Riibe — who has not been charged with a crime — has been questioned by prosecutors over three days, an official close to the investigation told ABC News.
Riibe’s lawyers believe he’s being detained illegally and want to prevent the 22-year-old from being placed in custody, the source said. Authorities have confiscated Riibe’s passport and his attorneys said he’s being surveilled at his hotel.
In the Dominican Republic, people can challenge an unlawful detention through a habeas corpus hearing. Detained individuals are required to be brought before a judge within 48 hours, or they must be either charged or released.
A ruling on the habeas corpus hearing request cannot prevent an order of arrest by Dominican authorities, according to Riibe’s lawyer and a source from the Dominican Republic Ministry of Justice.
Authorities said they believe 20-year-old Konanki died by drowning, officials told ABC News.
Her missing persons case is being treated as an accident, sources said. Authorities said Riibe is not a suspect and is cooperating and being questioned as a witness.
Konanki was on spring break with her friends in Punta Cana when she went missing in the early hours of March 6.
She was part of a group that went to a nightclub and then for a walk on the beach, officials involved in the investigation told ABC News.
Most of the group went back to the hotel around 5:55 a.m. after their night of drinking.
Riibe — who Konanki met that night — stayed with her on the beach, according to a Dominican Republic investigative police report.
Riibe told the prosecutor the two went swimming and kissed. He said then they were hit by a wave and pulled into the ocean by the tide, according to a transcript provided to ABC News from two Dominican Republic sources.
Riibe said he held Konanki and tried to get them out of the water.
“I was trying to make sure that she could breathe the entire time — that prevented me from breathing the entire time and I took in a lot of water,” he said.
“When I finally touched the sand, I put her in front of me. Then she got up to go get her stuff since the ocean had moved us,” Riibe told the prosecutor. “She was not out of the water since it was up to her knee. She was walking at an angle in the water.”
“The last time I saw her, I asked her if she was OK. I didn’t hear her response because I began to vomit with all the water I had swallowed,” he said. “After vomiting, I looked around and I didn’t see anyone. I thought she had taken her things and left.”
Riibe said he passed out on a beach chair and woke up hours later and returned to his hotel room.
ABC News’ Ellie Kaufman contributed to this report.
(VANCOUVER, British Columbia) — Oleksii Tiunin, a Ukrainian soldier who lost his leg in Russia’s war, has become known in his adopted Canadian home as an undefeated sportsman.
He was the captain of this year’s Ukrainian national team at the Invictus Games, which included the largest-ever Ukrainian delegation in February in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada.
“If someone had told me during my rehabilitation about such an event as these games, I would not have believed it was possible at first,” said Tiunin, 37.
The veteran of the 3rd Separate Assault Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, which participates it the most brutal battles with the Russian invaders, was badly injured by the enemy gunfire near Andriivka, Donetsk region, in August 2023.
Because of a delayed evacuation, he said, he lost his leg. He works today as a TV presenter.
But here, in British Columbia, this veteran from Kharkiv region is already known as a man of a strong spirit.
Earlier this year, a team of 35 injured Ukrainian soldiers won 30 medals, and finished on the fourth place in total medal count behind the U.S.’s 53, the United Kingdom’s 38 and Australia’s 36. The 12 gold, 11 silver and seven bronze medals marked the country’s second-best result at the Invictus Games.
“We came here to have fun and show the strength of Ukrainian people, get some medals, meet new people, chat with them, enjoy sightseeing and relax,” Tiunin told ABC News after the closing ceremony.
Due to his observations, the attitude towards the Ukrainian team was special: “Each of us got much more out of this trip than we expected — we had only good and positive emotions here.”
Tiunin describes the attitude to Ukrainian team as a combination of attention and respect, that has obviously close connection to the war in Ukraine that started over three years ago with the Russian full-scale invasion.
“I think people understand that a brutal war is currently going on in our country, and if we take into account other participants of the games, none of them was involved in such a war as we, Ukrainians are,” said the veteran.
According to Tiunin, the Ukrainian team was warmly supported not only by the representatives of the diaspora, but also by Canadians on the streets of Vancouver.
In late 2024, the Economist estimated that nearly 400,000 Ukrainian soldiers were injured and were unable to return to the front line.
One of the injured is Serhii Hordiievych, 38, the golden medalist in alpine skiing this year in Whistler.
A veteran of the Armed Forces of Ukraine from the Volyn region in western Ukraine, he used to work as a physical education teacher at a local college and then as a repairman in France — before joining the military.
In May 2022, Hordiievych was injured during his battalion counteroffensive near the village of Vesele in the Kharkiv region.
“I fell on my back and felt that my legs are getting stiff – I only managed to look around to check if there was an enemy somewhere around and then called my comrades for help,” he recalls.
According to Hordiievych’s memories, from the very first seconds he was full of faith that he would survive: “I just closed my eyes and fainted with a smile on my face, in pure and sincere confidence that everything is going to be fine.”
He suffered a spinal cord injury, and despite the long rehabilitation process, Hordiievych is still unable to walk – quite a disaster for a young man with great passion to sport.
“Before joining the army, I used to play soccer for three or even five times a week – always ready and accepting any proposal to compete,” said the veteran.
But the Invictus Games 2025 in Whistler were his first-ever real competition or big games ever. Hordiievych said he was inspired by his friend, and Invictus Games 2022 Ukrainian team member, Serhii Kalytiuk. Despite a similar injury, Kalytiuk continues to excel in sports.
Now he practices archery, table tennis and even works as a coach of the national para-tennis team.
“At the very beginning I had no idea how I should live from now on,” said Hordiievych. “But my comrade visited me in the hospital and helped me a lot – although his injury was much worse in comparison to mine, he provided a personal example, proving that it is possible to overcome it.”
Kalytiuk showed Hordiievych how to drive a car – at that time, something unthinkable for people with traumas like theirs: “That is how I restarted myself once again to renew my will for life,” Hordiievych said.
And that is probably why his first-ever trip to the American continent brought him and Ukraine a gold medal on alpine skiing, although he was not even proposed to participate in these games.
It was Hordiievych’s wife, Tetiana, who literally forced him to join the national team. According to him, she said: “Let me have you registered, we will go to the national tryouts and check if it fits you or not and then you will decide it yourself if it is worth it.”
So, she registered Hordiievych and wrote him a motivational letter, which he read in front of the camera, and sent it out without any firm belief he would be added to the team’s roster. in success.
But Hordiievych was invited for the tryouts in Kyiv: “It was some special vibe there, I felt as if I was among my people, as if I belonged here, the atmosphere was very relaxing and I liked it,” he says.
And the results were announced on Hordiievych’s birthday. “On that day I received lots of calls with greetings – I was nonstop thanking everybody wondering, how they knew it was my birthday, as I have deleted my birthday information from my social media profiles everywhere,” he remembered.
At some point, when Hordiievych heard the next “My congratulations!” from the archery coach, who he didn’t know well, he asked her: “Ms. Lesia, how do you know that it is my birthday?” And the answer was: “I know nothing about your birthday – you’re on the national team!”
“That was how I became a member of the team,” Hordiievych says with a smile on his face.
Right before the games, during six days of practice in Bukovel, a ski resort in the Ukrainian Carpathian Mountains, Hordiievych was facing a tremendous challenge – to learn how to ski.
“For the first two days I was not able to make a simple turn or even balance myself properly, but thanks to my coaches and other joint efforts, we managed to help me overcome myself and we did it,” he said.
New sport discipline helped Hordiievych to feel the same positive emotions he used to feel when he was skiing before the war, and that was probably the turning point that made the champion in Whistler.
According to Hordiievych, it was an unforgettable moment, when he arrived at the finish line and his coach, leaning forward over the net, shouted: ‘Serhii, you are the winner!’
“At first, I thought that the coach was just cheering me up and supporting, because at the third turn I slowed down a bit, lost some speed and was almost sure that others will have much better results,” says Hordiievych.
But his coach then repeated: “You beat them all by three seconds.” And it was such an incredible feeling for Hordiievych once he understood that he is the champion.
Besides this moment of glory and fame, Hordiievych said, he will always remember Canadian Rockies: “It was unreal panoramic view when my coaches and the instructor took me to the peak over 2000 meters high here in BC.”
Another memorable moment for Hordiievych was his meeting with Prince Harry. As he recalls, “On the last day of the games he was sitting down near me with a child of my comrade on his knees, and that is how I get this memorable image.”
Now, after the Games, Hordiievych said he plans to continue alpine skiing, and he also started to play table tennis.
Although his spinal cord injury is a complicated trauma and needs a very sophisticated treatment and long adaptation, he still hopes for complete recovery.
“I am confident that one day I will walk again, because I must dance with my daughter – first at her graduation party and then at her wedding,” he said.
It looks as if the whole Invictus Games Ukrainian national team consists of people with strong faith and unbreakable will.
“A person with a disability because of war. A person with unlimited capabilities! Learning to live with a prosthesis!” – that is how Tiunin describes himself on his Instagram profile.
And that is how he is trying to help other injured veterans to deal with their traumas.
Tiunin clearly understands that not everyone will be able to accept new life immediately and be ready to compete with other veterans at the next Invictus Games.
As a captain of the National team and the veteran, he said, there should be not even a single chance for surrender.
“You don’t have to fall into despair, you just have to survive this difficult stage of treatment, rehabilitation, not give up, believe in yourself, train and strive for greater heights,” he said.
