Pope Leo XIV is familiar with India, having visited the country twice and spent nearly a fortnight as prior general of the Order of St. Augustine, according to an Augustinian priest in India. Augustinian Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, who was elected pope and took the name Pope Leo XIV, visited several places in the southern Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu in 2004 and 2006, says Father John Bosco, who teaches at St. Augustine’s Study House in Aluva, central Kerala. In 2004, the Augustinian prior general’s programs included the ordination of six deacons, including the then Deacon Bosco. “I feel so great and blessed,” Bosco told on May 12, adding: “I never imagined the future pope was attending my priestly ordination.” “He is so down to earth and has great concern for the poor and those living in the periphery,” the priest said. “He likes to listen more rather than speak,” Bosco said. “As prior general of the order, he kept visiting houses of the order in as many countries as possible and made it a point to interact with as many people as possible, including the general public,” the Kerala-based priest recalled. During the 2004 visit, he spent time with people in Kerala. However, during his 2006 visit, he toured a school run by the order in Pollachi, a town in Coim-batore district in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Spanish bishops speak out after leaks of their meeting with Leo XIV
The executive committee of the Spanish Bishops’ Conference, (CEE, by its Spanish acronym) meeting in Madrid this week, issued an official statement regarding the leaks
