One of the riches of the Church is its diversity in spirituality through the centuries, in different cultures and life circumstances as people in every age respond to the mystery of God’s relationship with us and the teaching of Jesus in the Gospel. Every person alive needs to attend to his/her inner self and search for meaning in his/her life.
Christian spirituality offers different ‘windows on the Gospel’ and these reflect the many traditions and distinctive charisms of religious congregations such as the Ignatian, Franciscan, Carmelite, Dominican, Benedictine, Augustinian, and many others. It is worth remembering that the Second Vatican Council directed religious congregations to revisit their roots and renew and strengthen their charisms, and this has borne great fruit.
Certainly a man of humility and deep prayer, only Pope Leo XIV can tell us what motivates him spiritually; however, his rich and varied story will help us understand him better.
Formed in the post-Conciliar Church and ordained a priest in 1982, his life as a vowed religious, priest, pastor, missionary and bishop has been lived in his commitment as an Augustinian friar through the vows of poverty, chastity and obedience – the ‘Augustinian Way’ or ‘window on the Gospel’.
‘Interiority’, the inner life, is an essential way of growing in love. For an Augustinian, our hearts are restless until they rest in God, St Augustine’s own personal experience. He came to believe that the heart is the organ of seeing – ‘We see with our heart,’ he says. Pope Leo’s strong inner life and varied life experience over the years have helped him to become a compassionate listener and wise leader.
We members of the Body of Christ enrich each other through our different spiritualities and responses to the Gospel, and Pope Leo will do just that.
Already, his early talks and homilies reflect his background. In his first address from the balcony of St Peter’s, he quoted St Augustine in Sermon 340: ‘With you I am a Christian, for you I am a bishop!’ – underlining our equality in the Church by virtue of our common baptism, and his unique role of service as a bishop and now Pope – also, I suggest, the importance of synodality as the Church grows in maturity and greater understanding of herself.
A foundational element of the Augustinian charism is unity in community and mutual love, expressed beautifully in the Rule of St Augustine:
“Before all else, dear friends, live together in harmony and be of one mind and one heart on the way to God.” (Chapter 1)
“Let all live together in harmony and love, and honour God in each other, because you have become His temples.” (Chapter 2)
Needless to say, all Christians are called to embrace these ideals, but they need to be lived out in practical ways in society, family life and every human activity. They are a clear indicator of Pope Leo’s commitment to peace, addressing conflict, and building bridges, his express desire for harmony in the Church, concern for those on the margins, and a just and united world that reflects the core social justice principles of his predecessor Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum in 1891.
Just as Pope Francis with his Jesuit background and engaging presence brought the Gospel alive with his often refreshing insights, Pope Leo will do likewise in his own way and motivate others to share their richness too.
Reflecting the strong sense of community and life together in St Augustine’s Rule, Pope Leo concluded his homily at the Mass of Inauguration with an exhortation to those present and to the wider Church: “Look to Christ! Come closer to him! Welcome his word that enlightens and consoles! Listen to his offer of love and become his one family: in the one Christ, we are one.”
‘Walking’ is a strong image in St Augustine and a description of fruitful living in this life:
“Here on earth, we are travellers, always on the go. This means that we have to keep on moving forward. Therefore, don’t always be too satisfied about what you are if you want to reach what you are not. If you are too pleased with what you are, you have stopped already. Keep on walking, keep on growing, keep on moving forward. Don’t try to stop on the way.” (Sermon 169)
The image of walking expresses beautifully what it means for us to be Church together and the concept of ‘synodality’ as well, perhaps the reason for Pope Leo’s final exhortation to seek unity in love:
“Together, as one people, as brothers and sisters, let us walk towards God and love one another.”
Pope Leo XIV in Rome with members of the Australian Province of the Augustinians. From left, Fr Tony Banks OSA, Assistant General, Fr Tuan Anh Le OSA and Br Hoang Vu (Martin) OSA. Image: Augustinian Curia, Rome
Fr David Austin OSA is a member of the Augustinian community at Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair-Erskine Park.
This article was originally published in the 2025 Ordinary Time | Winter edition of the Catholic Outlook Magazine. You can read the digital version here or pick up a copy in your local parish.
