When the man he had known and respected for 20 years was declared the new pope, Father Barnaby Johns, OSA, excitedly leapt into the air.
He could hardly believe the first American — and the first Augustinian from the Order of St. Augustine (OSA) — was now leading the Catholic Church.
“I’m just so overwhelmed,” said Johns, Prior Provincial of the St. Augustine Province in California. “I’m sort of tingling. I cannot say enough good things about [Pope Leo XIV]. It’s wonderful for the world, wonderful for the Church, and wonderful for the Augustinian order.”
In the wake of Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost becoming Pope Leo XIV — on an Augustinian feast day no less — OSA priests serving in the Archdiocese of Los Angeles are sharing their excitement, their personal memories and reflecting on what it means to have one of their own as the Successor of Peter.
Father Sarfraz Alam, OSA, said the unexpected election of Pope Leo XIV is “the work of the Holy Spirit” and a point of pride for both his order and his parish. Founded in 1925 by Augustinians, Our Mother of Good Counsel Church in Los Feliz often welcomed the former Cardinal Prevost for provincial meetings and overnight stays in the friary. Just days after the naming of Pope Leo XIV, the parish held a Mass of Thanksgiving in his honor.
“It is a moment of joy and awe for our own parish family knowing that someone who shared our pews, broke bread in our rectory and prayed in our chapel now shepherds the entire Catholic world,” said Alam, pastor at Our Mother of Good Counsel. “We pray for him every day.”
Just as moved was Father Malachy Theophilus, OSA, who is a chaplain at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard. Theophilus met the then-prior general Prevost when he came to Nigeria.
“The announcement was emotional for me in particular because he was the one who did my final profession of vows,” Theophilus said. “He was down-to-earth, relatable, simple.”
Watching the pontiff’s first address, Theophilus said he recognized that signature humility and charism of the Augustinian order, which focuses on living in community, seeking truth, loving God and serving others. Theophilus believes those charisms will be reflected in his pontificate.
“[Pope Leo XIV] spoke about building bridges between the Church and the world,” Theophilus said. “One of our most important pillars is community life so he’ll lead a Church that is based on creating connection with the world, being a light to the world and not being a church of isolation.”
Johns noted the pope spoke of duty and grace when he loosely quoted the order’s namesake, St. Augustine, by saying: “With you I am a Christian and for you I am a bishop.” He also said Pope Leo XIV will be driven by the Rule of St. Augustine, which emphasizes love.
“He, as a son of Augustine and deeply rooted in that spirituality, will have that recklessness of heart that Augustine spoke of, that constant journey towards God,” Johns said. “That journey is sometimes a little messy and yet it is so desirous of the search for truth and the discovery of God.”
Johns and Father Emmanuel Issac, OSA, live and work at Villanova Preparatory School in Ojai, which the Augustians also established. After Pope Leo’s XIV inaugural speech, the priests gathered the campus community at the outdoor grotto to pray and rejoice in the good news. Johns admitted he couldn’t resist a joke about having “the pope on speed dial.”
Back in class, Issac said the students fired off numerous questions about Pope Leo XIV and the conclave. He hoped that curiosity from Catholic students and beyond could spark support for the Augustinian order’s work and encourage vocations.
“People might Google ‘What does it mean to be an Augustinian?’ ” said Issac, chaplain and theology teacher. “They’ll see we live in communities and we build communities. We’re missionaries, educators, and chaplains at hospitals or prisons. That interest is good for our entire Church and our order.”
For Father Mark Menegatti, OSA, also at Our Mother of Good Counsel, the evangelization and ministry to young people was a particular passion for Prevost when he was the prior general of the order. Menegatti spent time with Prevost during several gatherings for young people, including World Youth Days in Australia in 2008, Madrid in 2011, and Brazil in 2013.
“As a man of faith, as a man of prayer, as a man in love with Jesus Christ, in the manner of St. Augustine, it became a great opportunity for him to encounter Christ in community, and those sorts of community places,” Menegatti said. “It was a great opportunity to connect with young people.”
Menegatti said that while he was surprised that Prevost was elected as pope, he was less shocked at the name he chose or the experience he brings.
“Many Augustinians have looked affectionately on [Pope] Leo XIII as having a great working relationship with Augustinian priests while he was a priest and a bishop and as well as a pope,” Menegatti said. “Even before he was bishop of Peru, he may have had the most international experience. He may have sat eye to eye listening to Augustinian brothers and priests from more corners of the world than perhaps any other cardinal sitting in that conclave.”
In the days ahead, the Augustinians said Pope Leo XIV’s good qualities will serve him well, ones they’ve experienced first hand, like the time Johns received some much-needed support after becoming prior provincial.
“He came up to me and said, ‘This isn’t the easiest job in the world, but I’m going to be praying for you’ ’’ Johns said. “He listened to me, he encouraged me; he’s that kind of person.
“He’s going to be a fantastic pope.”
Father Kirk Davis, OSA, agreed, saying the Catholic Church is in capable hands. He was in the process of entering formation when then-Father Prevost was just elected prior general of the Order of St. Augustine.
“He has for years been a role model for me with his thoughtful, even disposition, and sense of calm,” said Davis, pastor of St. Thomas Aquinas Church in Ojai. “Every challenge he has accepted over his career has been met with honesty, creativity, and holiness.”
Theophilus said being pope comes with enormous responsibilities, but God would help — and we could too, with our prayers.
“My wish for him is to be a pope of his own heart,” he said. “I pray that he is a true shepherd and will lead Catholics and the world in the direction of God. Keep him in your prayers.”
Associate Editor Mike Cisneros contributed to this story.
