{"id":49022,"date":"2026-04-17T08:55:42","date_gmt":"2026-04-17T14:55:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/?p=49022"},"modified":"2026-04-17T10:52:47","modified_gmt":"2026-04-17T16:52:47","slug":"police-investigate-bomb-threat-against-pope-leos-brother","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/publiccatholic\/2026\/04\/police-investigate-bomb-threat-against-pope-leos-brother\/","title":{"rendered":"Police Investigate Bomb Threat Against Pope Leo’s Brother"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"\"<\/a>
Pope Leo. From Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Pope Leo\u2019s brother was the target of a bomb threat yesterday.<\/p>\n

Police evacuated homes surrounding John Prevost\u2019s house before sending in bomb squads to search the Prevost residence. Once the area was cleared, residents were allowed to return to their homes.<\/p>\n

This was not the home of Louis Prevost, Pope Leo\u2019s brother who Trump said was \u201call MAGA\u201d in his first attack on our Holy Father.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t think that Donald Trump was involved with this threat in any direct way at all. I also think that it is likely that the bomb threat is a reaction to the series of attacks that Trump has launched against the Holy Father, the Catholic Church and \u2014 by far the worst \u2014 against Our Lord. Trump openly and deliberately mocked Jesus Christ with those<\/a> AI<\/a> photos<\/a> he posted<\/a>. Trump was elected and he governs by division and hate.<\/p>\n

This is the first American pope. But Trump won\u2019t let us be proud. Trump ruins everything.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to comment beyond that at this time.<\/p>\n

From NBC News:<\/a><\/p>\n

\n

The Illinois home of one of Pope Leo XIV\u2019s brothers was the target of a bomb threat, which was found to be unsubstantiated, police said Thursday.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

The report came in at around 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. New Lenox police<\/a> said they initially responded to the bomb threat at the home of John Prevost, one of Leo\u2019s older brothers, located about 40 miles southwest of Chicago.<\/p>\n

Police officers secured a perimeter around the house and surrounding homes were evacuated out of an abundance of caution, New Lenox police said in a news release Wednesday. They conducted \u201ca thorough search of the residence and surrounding property,\u201d alongside specialized units that use explosive detection K9s, and determined the threat was \u201cunsubstantiated and that no explosive devices or hazardous materials were present.\u201d<\/p>\n

New Lenox Police Chief Micah D. Nuesse told NBC News in an email Thursday that an investigation to determine the origin of the report remains \u201cactive and ongoing.\u201d<\/p>\n

NBC News reached out to Prevost on Thursday, but did not immediately hear back.<\/p>\n

New Lenox police warned in their news release Wednesday that \u201cmaking false reports of this nature is a serious offense and may result in criminal charges\u201d and encouraged anyone with information about the incident to contact their office.<\/p>\n

The incident comes amid an escalating feud between Leo and President Donald Trump<\/a> over the first American pontiff\u2019s criticism of the war with Iran<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Leo\u2019s brother was the target of a bomb threat yesterday. Police evacuated homes surrounding John Prevost\u2019s house before sending in bomb squads to search the Prevost residence. Once the area was cleared, residents were allowed to return to their homes. This was not the home of Louis Prevost, Pope Leo\u2019s brother who Trump said […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1155,"featured_media":48940,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[33,3367,8360,7893],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49022","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-america","category-education-2","category-pope-leo-xiv","category-trump"],"yoast_head":"\nPolice Investigate Bomb Threat Against Pope Leo's Brother<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Pope Leo's brother was the target of a bomb threat yesterday. 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