By Jay Sorgi • Posted May 14, 2025

Archbishop Nelson J. Pérez was returning home to Philadelphia after his powerful experience of Pope Francis’ funeral in Rome when he got a text message in mid-flight.

“I heard firsthand from one of our staff. (The message) said ‘Cardinal Robert Prevost. Leo XIV.’ I couldn’t believe it,” the Archbishop told journalists Thursday evening, May 8 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia.

The press conference was held only hours after the Chicago-born, Villanova University-educated Augustinian cardinal was elected pope by the College of Cardinals in Rome.

The archbishop joins many Catholic faithful in the Philadelphia region, some whom have known the new Holy Father through Villanova, the Augustinian order, and in his tenure as a cardinal in celebrating his papacy.

“I’m super excited,” Archbishop Pérez said. “We have a pope that’s a pastor, (and) has a shepherd’s heart, not just for Catholics but for everybody.

“His papacy will be marked by a desire to have the Church face outward. The Church has to be missionary, carrying that spirit of a missionary disciple that Pope Francis had given the Church as a great gift. He will inspire genuine Christian encounter and meaningful dialogue with people.”

Archbishop Pérez, who issued a statement at the time of Pope Leo’s election, remarked how the new Holy Father even has a personnel record within the Archdiocese of Philadelphia.

“A very young Robert Prevost worked at St. Denis Parish in Havertown at the cemetery. He worked there as a groundskeeper when he was a college student,” he said. “The present pope worked for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia at one time. Isn’t that amazing?”

Pope Leo XIV graduated from Villanova’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 1977 with a mathematics degree, then entered the Order of St. Augustine in September of that year.

“As an Augustinian Catholic institution, we celebrate this significant day for our university community and the global Church,” University President Father Peter M. Donohue, OSA, PhD, said in a statement.

He attended Villanova with Pope Leo XIV and graduated in 1975.

“Known for his humility, gentle spirit, prudence and warmth, Pope Leo XIV’s leadership offers an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to our educational mission, through an Augustinian lens, as we pursue intellectual and spiritual growth.”

Pope Leo held the position of prior general, or global leader, of the Order of St. Augustine when he made a stop six days before Easter 2004 at Msgr. Bonner High School for Boys in Drexel Hill, Delaware County.

“His connection to the Philadelphia Augustinians really was apparent,” said Steve Clement, a student at that time and now the chief administrative officer for archdiocesan Catholic high schools. “I can remember how excited the Augustinians were, including Father Bill Atkinson, who we hope is on his way to sainthood.” During his visit then-Father Prevost joined an unexpected award ceremony for a football video game event.

“He didn’t view himself only as the head of the Augustinian order,” Clement said. “He spent time to get to know us as guys, and to say, ‘Hey, you guys did a Madden tournament. I want to give out the awards for the tournament.’ The Pope of our universal Church, not that long ago, was in Drexel Hill handing out awards for guys that won a Madden tournament.”One South Philadelphia Augustinian priest witnessed Pope Leo’s good humor many times while crossing paths with him at novitiate gatherings and in Rome during the 1970s and 1980s.

“To know that he has a sense of humor is so important because it allows him to put perspective on what he hears. He understands the foibles of humanity,” said Father Paul Galetto, pastor of St. Paul Parish in the Italian Market neighborhood of Philadelphia.

“He is a sincere person, and when he’s talking to you, he’s listening. He’s not just engaged in the conversation to be courteous and get it over with it, but he wants to hear what you have to say. I think that skill helped him become a leader.”

Such qualities are well documented in the experiences of Augustinian novices who spent long conversations with him about their discernment, and so many others who have found themselves in the new pontiff’s presence.

Auxiliary Bishop Keith Chylinski, the rector of St. Charles Borromeo Seminary in Ambler, attended a retreat last year in Rome held for new bishops, which was directed by then-Cardinal Prevost.

“He was very attentive to who was in front of him, and he had a great just a presence of real humility and serenity,” said Bishop Chylinski. “There was a peace about him. He brings a certain calmness and peace with him.”

Perhaps it’s that  charism of his that led him to say, “Peace be with you all” as the first words of his papacy.

“He began his remarks speaking about God’s love for everyone and a deep desire for peace,” said Archbishop Pérez, “recognizing that the world, more than ever right now, needs peace.”

Pope Leo is already inspiring confidence in organizations that work with the Holy See, including the Papal Foundation.

Ward Fitzgerald, president of the nonprofit based in Chester, said the organization is offering “prayers of love and gratitude as Pope Leo XIV prepares to lead the faithful of the Universal Catholic Church.”

Fitzgerald expressed trust that “with the guidance of the Holy Spirit,” the new pope “will have the grace to be the leader that we need at this particular time in the life of the Church.”

With Pope Leo’s election in the footsteps of St. Peter, the first pope, Fitzgerald prayed for “the grace for each of us to live and serve like Paul, to share Christ’s love with the world on behalf of the Holy Father, and to fulfill our mission to bring together laity, clergy, and Church hierarchy to serve the poor, vulnerable and marginalized in developing nations throughout the world.”