Americans are still getting used to the idea of having one of their own in the Vatican.
But the new Pope’s actions are speaking louder than words.
And Pope Leo XIV stunned the world with one surprising move that revealed his true character.
The first American Pope breaks tradition in a very American way
When Cardinal Robert Prevost was elected Pope on May 8, taking the name Leo XIV, he made history as the first American to hold the keys of St. Peter.
But there’s another first that most people don’t know about.
Pope Leo XIV is also the first Pope who is a member of the Order of St. Augustine.
The Augustinians represent a smaller religious community compared to other well-known orders, with membership totaling around 2,800 people worldwide across dozens of countries.
Their numbers are significantly smaller than the more familiar Franciscan and Dominican orders.
But their influence on the new Pope is already becoming crystal clear.
Pope shows his true colors with one unexpected visit
Just three weeks into his pontificate, Pope Leo XIV has already made two trips back to visit his Augustinian community.
That move surprised Vatican watchers who expected the new Pope to be consumed with papal duties.
But Fr. Thomas McCarthy, an Augustinian friar who has known the Pope for decades, says this behavior is exactly what you’d expect from someone formed in their tradition.
“Pope Leo has been in office, what, like three weeks? And he’s already been back to the Augustinian community twice. Because that’s what roots us, that’s what gives us our foundation,” McCarthy told The Pillar.
McCarthy directs the St. Rita Shrine in Chicago and serves as vocation director for the Midwest Augustinian Province, the same province that Pope Leo XIV belonged to and which the Pope led as prior provincial 25 years ago.
The Augustinian emphasis on community and friendship traces back to their spiritual father, St. Augustine, who lived from 354 to 430.
Augustine’s famous quote captures their restless search for meaning: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.”
Augustinian spirituality could be exactly what America needs
The Order of St. Augustine was officially founded in 1244 when Pope Innocent IV brought together many different little groups that were living the rule of Saint Augustine.
The rule that Augustinians follow today was written by Augustine as a letter to two of his communities in the year 400.
“It was simply passed along: ‘Hey, Michelle, read this. Hey George, read this.’ And people were saying, ‘Wow, this makes sense,'” McCarthy explained.
The first line of their rule sets the tone: “The purpose of your coming together is to be of one heart and one mind and intent upon God.”
Everything centers on building community and friendship.
Augustine himself lived with his friends after his conversion, then started another community when he became a priest, and later started a third community when he became a bishop.
This emphasis on togetherness might be exactly what modern America needs.
“Working with young people, I see loneliness as a real tangible feeling. Their lives are sometimes only behind a screen. Community and friendship are core to Augustinianism. That is a message the world needs to hear and embrace,” McCarthy said.
The Augustinians take a different approach to school dining that reflects their community values.
When McCarthy served as president and principal of St. Rita High School in Chicago, he made a deliberate change to fight student isolation.
The school replaced traditional long cafeteria tables with round ones specifically to prevent students from sitting alone at the end of a table.
New Pope defies liberal vs. conservative labels
Political observers have been trying to figure out whether Pope Leo XIV will be liberal or conservative.
But McCarthy thinks they’re asking the wrong question.
“I hate the titles ‘conservative’ and ‘liberal.’ If you want to talk about Augustinians, we’re authentically Catholic,” he said.
The Augustinian approach focuses on meeting people where they are while challenging them to grow.
McCarthy pointed to Jesus’ encounter with the woman caught in adultery as an example.
“The people that were going to stone her were doing what was legal, right? Moses said she should be stoned. But Jesus steps in with unbelievable mercy, love and forgiveness. Now, he doesn’t let her off the hook — he still challenges her. He says, ‘Go and sin no more,'” McCarthy explained.
“And so that’s not being liberal or conservative, that’s being authentically Christian.”
Pope’s election creates unprecedented interest in religious vocations
The impact of having an Augustinian Pope is already being felt in unexpected ways.
Interest in Augustinian vocations has exploded since the papal election.
Their vocation website saw an unprecedented surge in traffic, receiving tens of thousands of visits in the first week after Leo XIV’s election.
Even more striking, hundreds of people have reached out asking to speak with someone about joining the order – a number that typically takes them a full year to reach.
The new Pope has already spoken about the importance of young people listening with their hearts when it comes to vocations.
McCarthy hopes this will encourage all types of vocations, not just to priesthood and religious life.
“We need beautiful vocations of married people. We need the lost vocation, I call it, of the single person,” he noted.
The last time McCarthy saw the future Pope was in Chicago last August.
Cardinal Prevost showed up unannounced at St. Clare of Montefalco parish on the saint’s feast day.
“He showed up at the end of Mass, and then he stayed. It’s a Mexican parish, and the ladies of the parish made this wonderful, wonderful luncheon. He stayed there. He was with everyone,” McCarthy recalled.
“He was a cardinal. He could have said, ‘Well, I’m busy. I’ve got to leave.’ No, he was right there in the midst of everything. I think they even had him cut the cake.”
That’s the Augustinian way of doing things – building community not just among themselves but with everyone they serve.
Pope Leo XIV’s early actions suggest Americans might have a Pope who brings their best values to the universal Church.