(WLS) — Augustinian Brothers from the Midwest arrived in Vatican city to celebrate that one of their own will to be installed as the 267th pontiff on Sunday.
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“I know that guy, he’s in my phone, like, I have pictures with him. He’s in my province,” Fr. Jack Tierney said.
There are only 2,800 Augustinians in the world, and now one of them, born and bred in Chicago, will now be leading 1.4 billion Catholics.
“When I always look at him, I think of a person who I want to listen to what he says, because he uses his words very wisely,” Father Joe Roccosalva said.
“I went to Peru when he was ordained a bishop, because I was the provincial. And then I was here in 2023, when he was made a Cardinal. So, I had to be here for the trifecta,” Father Bernie Scianna said.
Father Bernie Scianna has pictures dating back decades with now Pope Leo XIV.
Just a few months ago they were pictured co-celebrating Mass inside St. Peters with little idea of what was to come.
Father Bernie Scianna was once Pope Leo’s Augustinian boss, so to speak, in Chicago.
“After he was elected, I sent a note. I didn’t know if the pope responds to his email, but he did,” Scianna said.
A day after his election, Pope Leo responded with an invitation.
Archbishop of Chicago’s Cardinal Blase J. Cupich said that he believes that listening will likely be one of Pope Leo’s superpowers.
“There has to be a peace in the discussion that deals with the ethical and moral questions,” Cupich said. “We can’t reduce politics just to the financial bottom line or a national self-interest in a nationalistic way. But we have to look at how the entire globe is being impacted we live on this planet that we call our common home.”
The Vatican’s Secretary of State said Pope Leo has already offered the Vatican as a space for neutral peace talks between Russia and Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio met with his counterpart at the Vatican on Saturday where they talked about their commitment to ending global conflicts.
Watch Pope Leo’s installation Mass at 3 a.m. Sunday on ABC7 Chicago, or wherever you stream.
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