Pope's Augustinian brothers greet election with 'joyful disbelief,' deep spiritual affirmation

ROME (OSV News) -- He enjoys gelato after lunch, plays tennis weekly in the gardens of the Augustinian Curia in Rome and roots passionately for the Chicago White Sox.

But now, the man once known as Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost -- a quiet, thoughtful Augustinian with decades of missionary experience in Peru -- is Pope Leo XIV, the 266th successor of St. Peter.

For his brothers in the Augustinian order, his election has been met with a mixture of "joyful disbelief" and deep spiritual affirmation.

"I kept saying, 'This is incredible,' but I was also filled with joy," said Father Joseph Farrell, the American prior general of the Order of St. Augustine. "As soon as I heard Roberto Francesco, I thought, it has to be Prevost. There were tears of joy -- I was in the square when it happened."

Father Farrell describes Pope Leo XIV as a man who leads by example, someone who "would never ask anyone to do anything he wouldn't do himself." His leadership, he said, is grounded not in ambition or politics, but in lived humility and fulfillment of the wide range of tasks a missionary might have -- from teaching theology in Trujillo, Peru, or changing a flat tire.

"He's someone who walks with people, who brings them along on the journey," Father Farrell said. "That's what mission is. Pope Francis said the church doesn't just have a mission -- it is a mission. I think Leo will continue that."

The new pope has not yet personally reached out to Father Farrell, something Pope Francis had done on the day of his election when he called the superior general of his own religious order, the Jesuits. But he did send a telling one-word text after the election. "I asked him, 'Cubs or White Sox?'" Father Farrell shared with a smile. "He just replied: Socks!"

That playful spirit -- balanced by a calm, steady presence -- is central to how Augustinians see Leo XIV's upcoming papacy.

"My expectation is that he will be a little bit more reserved (than Pope Francis)," said Father Farrell. "Pope Leo XIV is a man who listens before he speaks, who listens before he acts. He needs that. He will react; he is a man who is very secure in himself, but he always listens first."

One of the things few may know about the new pope is his commitment to exercise as part of his spiritual balance. "He played tennis here weekly. He realizes just how important staying in good physical shape is. He certainly plays tennis for the joy of the game, to keep up with the game, but also for stress relief!"

Asked if he pictures the newly elected pope continuing with his weekly tennis appointment, the priest said that he's not sure but wouldn't rule it out even if there is no tennis court in the Vatican.

While St. John Paul II was known as an athlete pope, the building of a tennis court would have to be the new pope's task as the Polish one was rather famous for mountain hiking, skiing and swimming.

From Seville, Spain, another Augustinian voice echoed the same blend of affection and admiration. Father Eduardo Martín Clemens, diocesan director of the Pontifical Mission Societies and former missionary in Peru, lived and worked alongside then-Father Prevost in Trujillo.

As a priest, the pope joined the Augustinian mission in Trujillo in 1988 as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian candidates from the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurímac. He stayed there until 1998.

"I'm convinced the new pope is a gift to the whole church," said Father Clemens. "The Holy Spirit has been very generous."

Father Clemens remembers a man who embodied both "the pragmatism of a North American and the open heart of Latin America." He says then-Father Prevost never treated mission as a task but as a calling so deeply personal that "it was hard to distinguish if he was, in fact, a foreign missionary or Peruvian."

He recalls weekends spent traveling together to remote corners of the country: "He'd always stop where the suffering was greatest. Whether to hear confessions or simply be present, was close to those in need."

For Father Clemens, Pope Leo XIV's spirituality is deeply rooted in the Augustinian tradition, but never at the expense of openness. "He embraced the new without breaking with tradition," he said. "He was never a man of consensus in the political sense -- but a man of communion. He built bridges."

As a seminary formator and later bishop, the man who is now pope was known for his deep theological knowledge, even of canon law, which he applied "in a pastoral way, never making others feel trapped by rules, but liberated by truth," said Father Clemens.

In his first public words as pope, Leo XIV quoted St. Augustine: "For you I am a bishop, with you, I am a Christian.” That, Father Clemens says, is exactly who he's always been.

"In him, apostolic succession takes on flesh," he said. "He is the man the church needs today -- to build bridges and embrace everyone with his heart."