From the President: Augustinian insights on Pope Leo

One year into his papacy, Leo continues to embrace the Augustinian charism of community, diversity, and mutual listening. According to a fellow priest in his order, this foundation now shapes his global mission for peace and inclusive communication.

At the Catholic Media Conference in Atlantic City, we will host a panel on Thursday, June 18, titled “Communicating the Vision of Pope Leo XIV: Truth, Technology and Evangelization.” Among the participants will be Augustinian Father Arthur P. Purcaro, who is assistant vice president in the Office of Mission and Ministry at Villanova University, where he also teaches theology. 

Father Purcaro also served in Peru, at the Augustinian mission in Chulucanas, and in Rome, as a member of the General Council of the Order of St Augustine in Rome. His time in both places overlapped with the ministry of Augustinian Father Bob Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, with whom he has worked closely.

Father Purcaro is the author of “Building a Better World: A Contemporary Augustinian Perspective,” for which Pope Leo wrote the forward. I spoke with Father Purcaro by phone to offer a preview of his insights. Our conversation has been condensed and edited. 

What was your reaction when you heard the news your friend had become pope?

I was in Rome at the time, celebrating the 50th anniversary of my priesthood, and Bob and I had arranged to celebrate Mass together. But our plans changed after Pope Francis passed away. My brother and his wife came to Rome, too. They knew Bob from Peru, but my brother was so impressed. If the man wasn’t made pope, he still would have thought of him as a saint. 

Bob wasn’t looking to be pope, that’s for sure. But sure enough, when I heard the news, my jaw dropped, and from then it’s been a different world. Bob Prevost has become Leo XIV. He has assumed a new ministry and a new name for the benefit of the church. It’s still Bob Prevost — a reserved, deeply religious person who respects other people — but how he lives out being pope is phenomenal.

One of the things Pope Leo has emphasized, and understandably so, is calling for peace in our world today. How does your understanding of Augustinian spirituality help you understand his broader call for peace?

It’s a great question, and one that I’d certainly emphasize in any appraisal of his first year. He is an Augustinian. He stood on that loggia and said, “I am a son of St. Augustine.” He was in the minor seminary, as was I, and he’s been formed in that spirituality. For him, what inspired him as a human being, and makes him want to serve others, is the Acts of the Apostles: one mind, one heart, sharing all that God has gifted us. The people Jesus chose were diverse and seeking peace is essential to community life. That was the why of Augustine’s conversion as well; he wasn’t converted only to Christ, he was converted to a Christian lifestyle, which is diversity. When you live community life, you pray together, you eat together, your work is a community service. These are the things that we become used to as Augustinians. Maybe other people don’t understand that. But peace, for Bob Prevost, before he became pope, is growing in harmony; it is unity, not uniformity. It is knowing everybody has something to offer, and that nobody can be written off. We all need one another. Pope Francis talked about being interdependent, interrelated. This is another way, but it’s the principal emphasis of Bob Prevost’s vocation, right?

What do you think is one aspect of Augustinian spirituality that you wish was better understood by American Catholics?

God gave everything to everybody. And what it means to be Augustinian is to share what we have and who we are. In American society, we’re so individualistic, isolated from one another and searching and searching for happiness. Augustinian spirituality is based on this concept of community; all of life is a gift, therefore I need to share, as God shares with me. I share forgiveness. I share my material goods, my spiritual goods, who I am.

In the forward to your book, Pope Leo writes the book is for “anyone interested in living a more harmonious life … those who are not willing to accept the status quo.” With regard to how we tend to communicate with one another as Catholics these days, what about the status quo should we refuse to accept?

When we write somebody off, we immediately condemn that person — and that’s not what Christianity is about, certainly not what community life is about. Good communication is realizing that everybody has something to offer. We need one another. If I turn somebody off and refuse to listen to them, I am impoverishing myself, not just that person because they’re not being allowed to share. I am less when I don’t allow myself to be enriched by somebody else’s point of view, their life experience. The pope has reached out to the left and right, progressive and traditional. We grow together when we listen to one another.

Do you have any particular hopes for the church under the leadership of Pope Leo?

God is working already through him. I think it’s the right moment for this particular man. He’s deeply centered in God, he shares his faith but doesn’t turn people away because they are of other faiths. Rather, he appreciates and wants to get them together. If the church is going to be in the world as light, as salt, as leaven, then it’s because we have somebody who is reaching out and listens and actively wants to hear from others. So that’s my hope, that he will not diverge from that path.

Kerry Weber is President of the Catholic Media Association and Executive Editor at America Media.