Pope Leo XIV, previously often called Robert Prevost, is the first American pontiff.
He was elected on Thursday, lower than three weeks after the demise of Pope Francis, and his elevation instantly made historical past. Leo grew up in Chicago, majored in math at Villanova College, and spent a long time serving the Catholic Church in Peru.
Considerably, Pope Leo can be the primary pontiff to hail from the Augustinian order, which was based in 1244.
The Augustinians are a mendicant order, which implies they rely largely on charitable donations for his or her wants. They prioritize group and missionary work, with a particular emphasis on serving the poor and the weak.
These beliefs might have influenced Leo’s determination, whereas he was nonetheless a cardinal, to share critiques of the Trump administration on-line, notably on problems with immigration — which places him at odds with one other distinguished American Catholic: Vice President JD Vance.
In a January interview with Fox Information, Vance used his religion as a justification for the Trump administration’s America First agenda. “You’re keen on your loved ones and you then love your neighbor, and you then love your group, and you then love your fellow residents in your individual nation, after which after that, you possibly can focus [on] and prioritize the remainder of the world,” Vance stated.
Shortly after that interview, Leo shared a hyperlink to a Nationwide Catholic Reporter article titled “JD Vance Is Unsuitable: Jesus Doesn’t Ask Us to Rank Our Love for Others.”
Right this moment, Defined wished to get to know this new pope and higher perceive why the conclave chosen him. So we referred to as up Terence Sweeney. He’s an assistant instructing professor within the humanities division and honors program at Villanova College — not solely the pope’s alma mater (class of ’77) but additionally the one Augustinian college in america.
His dialog with Noel King, edited for size and readability, is beneath. There’s far more within the full podcast, so hearken to Right this moment, Defined wherever you get podcasts, together with Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
How stunned had been you [by Pope Leo’s selection]?
I used to be each stunned and never stunned. I’ve been speaking about him with pals and college students for the previous couple of weeks. Yesterday morning, I popped into the workplace of Father Allen, an Augustinian on campus, and I stated, ‘Are we gonna have an Augustinian pope?’ And he stated he didn’t suppose so.
Positive sufficient, a number of hours later, I obtained a textual content message from my pal who stated, ‘You referred to as it.’
However on the identical time, I used to be very stunned. I used to be longing for him, however he’s an American, and historically, that’s seen as, ‘Oh, it received’t occur.’ So I each form of referred to as it and was completely shocked.
So inform us who he’s. Who’s Robert Prevost, or Pope Leo XIV?
Prevost is a child who grew up in Chicago and went to Villanova College. He had met Augustinians as a younger man and joined the order simply after school. Perhaps most notably, [he] then proceeded to spend most of his life as a priest after which a bishop within the missions in Peru. He might have gotten assigned to a pleasant parish in a wealthier a part of america, however as a substitute, he went to Peru to be with the poor, to do work there, to do ministry there, and I believe that’s in some ways the guts of who he’s.
You may give it some thought like this: I’ve a fairly soft spot at Villanova. I’ve a home. It’s snug. To immediately shift gears to a very new tradition, studying the language absolutely in a spot that perhaps doesn’t have as many perks as an American suburban parish may, I believe that’s an actual signal of eager to be with these on the margins of worldwide energy and economics.
I don’t suppose we’ve had a pope in centuries who has had this expertise of working within the missions. We’ve had pastor popes, scholar popes, diplomat popes. However a pope who spent most of his life in a poor a part of a rustic doing missionary work — I don’t even know if we’ve ever had one.
When Pope Francis died, there was an enormous dialog about whether or not the church would choose any person who was extra conventional or who was seen as extra progressive, the way in which Pope Francis was. What sort of selection is Pope Leo XIV? The place does he fall on that spectrum?
In some methods, like Pope Francis, he form of throws us off of those spectrums.
He took the title Leo, which is a fairly conventional papal title. He’s the 14th, proper? He’s not the primary. He’s intently figuring out with each the primary Pope Leo, Pope Saint Leo the Nice, and Pope Leo XIII, who’re richly a part of the custom. Leo XIII is notable for his work on one thing referred to as Catholic social thought: what the church brings to the questions of economics and justice and politics. And that has tended to be one thing that what we name progressive Catholics have actually centered on.
I believe it was additionally notable that the language of his first handle to the folks in St. Peter’s Sq. was richly tied in with Pope Francis: He talked about bridge-building and peace being with all of you. And I believe there are some indicators that he desires to hold on a whole lot of what Pope Francis did, however perhaps make extra connections, we’d say, between the form of Pope Francis aspect of the church and the Pope Benedict aspect.
You’ve talked about a number of occasions that he’s an Augustinian. What’s an Augustinian, precisely?
The Augustinians are a bunch of friars. They had been based in 1244, and so they’re grounded in three rules: residing in group, a very robust sense that wherever we go, we go collectively. [A] deep sense of the guts. In the event you ever see an icon of St. Augustine, he’s usually holding a coronary heart. [That symbolizes] the sense that what we have to do is make connections with different folks of their hearts. And a very robust name to the mission to exit. The unique Augustinians usually went into cities and numerous locations to be with folks the place they had been.
After Robert Prevost was chosen yesterday, instantly it got here to the floor that he had expressed some opinions on immigration. I noticed folks — and also you had written about this previously — drawing a line between the Augustinian custom and the present controversies that america is dealing with over immigration. What’s the Augustinian place on immigration?
Basically, one of the crucial essential components of being an Augustinian is usually referred to as the order of loves. It’s this concept that our hearts have to develop. Our hearts can get very slim. We will fall in love solely with ourselves. So we have to discover a method to have our hearts develop to make room for God, who’s infinite. If you make room for God, you make room for everybody, notably for these in want. One of many large duties of his preach for Individuals — for every kind of Catholics, every kind of individuals — helps us broaden our hearts.
Notably, we’ve got a vice chairman who’s Catholic. JD Vance has spoken concerning the order of loves. You may take into consideration what he stated as having a whole lot of the suitable phrases, however getting the tune unsuitable. He described one of many crucial concepts that the order of loves teaches us: that we rightly prioritize people who find themselves nearer to us. He’s emphasizing that and saying: Individuals rightly prioritize Individuals. However he’s lacking the purpose of the order of loves, that [the heart] was alleged to develop, to go outward. Whereas Vance appears to be speaking about it as a means of retracting and going inward.
Pope Francis challenged him on this. Then Prevost retweeted an article in America journal about difficult Vance on this. That’s an early indication that he, as pope, goes to very a lot stand with a broadening of our loves.
It is rather 2025 for a brand new pope to be retweeting criticism of a vice chairman. What do you suppose it tells us about Pope Leo XIV?
I believe that he sees his workplace as a bishop, and now as bishop of Rome, as a prophetic one. He has a process of prophetic witness. That prophetic witness goes to talk about a whole lot of issues. He’s going to talk about the atmosphere. He will certainly talk about immigration. He’s going to talk about abortion. He’s going to talk about a lot of issues which might be going to throw American binaries off.
Now we have to remember the fact that he’s a profoundly pro-refugee and pro-life pope, and one thing I share with him, the sense that the love that we broaden out is supposed to go notably to the smallest and essentially the most forgotten. And I believe he sees that, and I believe he’s going to talk in that prophetic witness as did the popes earlier than him.
