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Leo XIV in Pavia: at the sources of an Augustinian missionary style

by Marie-Lucile Kubacki Rome – Pope Leo XIV’s visit to Pavia on Saturday, June 20, takes on a symbolic meaning. It is like the return of an Augustinian Pontiff to his spiritual roots. In the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, where the relics of Saint Augustine have been kept for centuries, the profound bond between Pope Prevost and the “Doctor Gratiae” is evident. More than thirteen years before becoming Pope, when he was still Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Robert Francis Prevost described the identity of his religious family in an interview: “The Pope in the 13th century gave us an identity with two points of reference. One is clearly Augustine: a source of doctrine, hope, and light. He gives us our charism: to live in community according to his Rule. Regarding the other aspect, we must look back to the time of our legal foundation: the 13th century is, for the Church, the era of the mendicant orders, an expression of a new way of responding to the needs of the times. This is an important source for our history.” A perspective that unites a deep-rooted tradition with attention to the urgent needs of our time. In the interview, conducted by Antonello Sacchi and published in the volume Sant’Agostino a Pavia , Father Prevost at the time emphasized the open and available nature of the Augustinian charism: “The Order was not founded with a specific purpose: our charism is not to work in hospitals or schools. A fundamental part of our life is responding to the needs of the People of God today. There is always this challenge: to discover how best to respond to this need of the Church and the People of God today. We work in many countries, we are committed to education at various levels, the Order works in the theological field, but not only that: we are also active in the field of missions. I am thinking, for example, of the missions in Latin America, Asia, and India; I recall that the first missionaries to arrive in the Philippines were Augustinians. Our Order is growing today in Africa, Latin America, India, and the Philippines. The Order today draws on Augustine and the experience of the mendicant orders, and with this heritage of faith, we address the needs of our times.” Leo XIV's day in Pavia—the meeting with the staff and some children undergoing treatment, with the parents of the National Center for Oncological Hadrontherapy, the meeting with the Augustinian and ecclesial community, with the citizens, the celebration of the Word, and the veneration of the relics of Saint Augustine—is shown as a concrete realization of this vocation. When asked what ‘San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro’ meant to the Order, Father Prevost at the time stated in the same volume: “For us, using the words of Pope John XXII, who in 1327 entrusted the Augustinians with the custody of the body of Saint Augustine, allowing us to open our convent next to the Saint’s tomb, being close to our spiritual master is very important because we have the responsibility to safeguard and promote a sense of devotion, respect, and love for the figure of Augustine throughout the centuries in the history of the Church—a service that continues today.” It is precisely this closeness to the Doctor of Grace that Leo XIV came to share as Bishop of Rome, venerating the relics of Saint Augustine. “Our presence in this city is a representation of what we want to do in the world,” the Prior General at the time also emphasized. In this sense, what the Order experiences at the tomb of Augustine in Pavia expresses what it seeks to live everywhere: in preaching, mission, and the building of a concrete communion. At the end of the day, the Pope, according to the program released weeks ago by the Holy See Press Office, will travel to Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, the birthplace of Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, founder of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart of Jesus. Thus, this double visit should allow for a deeper understanding of the specific missionary style of the man who became Pope Leo XIV on May 8, 2025.

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