Celebrating One Year of Pope Leo XIV’s Papacy

May 8, 2026

Dear Friends in Christ,

It’s hard to believe it’s a year already since our brother, Pope Leo XIV, was elected to the papacy on May 8, 2025. Anniversaries are a wonderful time to reflect and to look back, but also to look forward.

Everyone can remember where they were on that special day. I was in my office when I heard a lot of commotion going on downstairs – cries of “White smoke! White smoke!” I remember coming down the hallway and seeing everybody gathered – interns who had worked here, former Villanova students, our staff, and friends – sharing the excitement that our Church had a new leader.

Shortly after that, our brother “Bob” stepped out onto the loggia. As Cardinal Protodeacon Dominique Mamberti proclaimed the name “Roberto Francisco Prevost,” the office erupted in shouts of joy, tears, laughter, and surprise. We were all so happy for our Church and for our world, knowing our brother the way we do, that the Holy Spirit chose such a wonderful, gifted servant leader.

Our phones started ringing off the hook. We got dozens of emails and texts from news outlets around the world, asking: Who is Pope Leo? Who are the Augustinians? Were we surprised? On one hand, friars who knew Pope Leo were not at all surprised since they know him to have all the characteristics that would serve him well as pope. On the other, there was an underlying wonder that the College of Cardinals would pick an American, and someone who had only been a cardinal for two years.

It didn’t take long for people to discover Pope Leo’s missionary spirit, his love of the poor, and his former leadership positions within our Order – particularly his time as prior general, when he traveled across the globe preaching in multiple languages and building coalitions. To see all those gifts be brought to bear for the greater good of the world, to encourage and witness to Christ and the Lord’s call for all of us to be peacemakers and community builders, it became absolutely clear that he was the disciple of Christ for the job.

Immediately there was a worldwide spotlight on things that are important to us. Who is St. Augustine? What are Augustinian values? How will his being an Augustinian shape his papacy? A year in, we have seen those Augustinian values reflected in the way he speaks, the way he preaches, and the way he treats everyone all over the world with dignity and respect.

Pope Leo has made a wonderful first impression. He seems to be reaching people regardless of where they stand politically or where they stand in the church – whether a practicing Catholic, a lapsed Catholic, or a non-Catholic. He calls us all to be synodal – to listen. He listens before he speaks, and yet at the same time he’s not afraid to speak the truth when it comes to stopping war, violence, and discrimination, showing that we all have a role to play in being peacemakers and building community.

We’re excited as we move through this anniversary to the future years of his papacy, which we pray will be many. What an opportunity to be partners in his call for all of us to take these values to the local level: to be peacemakers in our families, in our parishes, and in our schools; to be promoters of justice; to welcome the stranger; even to love our enemies. We all know that there are people suffering in the communities where we live. Pope Leo calls all of us to share that missionary spirit to be willing to go and bring not just our words but our actions of love to a world that so desperately needs to see the witness of Christ’s light and love.

Peace always,

Fr. Robert P. Hagan, O.S.A.
Prior Provincial

The Augustinians