With a huge and festive crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV led his first Sunday recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer and urged all Catholics to pray for vocations, especially to the priesthood and religious life.
With a huge and festive crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo XIV led his first Sunday recitation of the “Regina Coeli” prayer and urged all Catholics to pray for vocations, especially to the priesthood and religious life.
When Catholics heard on May 8 the new pope had chosen the name Leo XIV, the thoughts of many turned immediately to Leo XIII, the last pope to bear the name.
Augustinian Sister Carmen Toledano texted her religious brother Monseñor Robert, whom others called Cardinal Robert F. Prevost. She was surprised to hear his name in the news as a front-runner for pope
Newly elected Pope Leo XIV, the first Augustinian pope, draws on the wisdom and spirituality of St. Augustine as he begins his papacy — a legacy shaped by centuries of contemplative action, education, and global ministry.
Days before he was elected, Pope Leo XIV (then Cardinal Robert F. Prevost) received a ringing endorsement from a Catholic school teacher in New Jersey – one the pope-to-be apparently read just hours before entering the conclave at which he would be chosen.
Pope Leo XIV asked journalists to be peacemakers by shunning prejudice and anger in their reporting, and he called for the release of journalists imprisoned for their work.
Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.
On the second day of the conclave, after white smoke billowed from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, Americans in Rome reacted with shock, delight and questions at the realization that the new pope – Pope Leo XIV – was a fellow American.
The Midwest Augustinians celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV — the first Augustinian and first American pope — calling him a bridge-builder rooted in St. Augustine’s spirit and a true companion to the marginalized.
Hours after Pope Leo XIV presented himself to the world for the first time, the American bishops offered prayers to the new pontiff, and said that they “rejoice that a son of this nation has been chosen by the cardinals.”