Introducing Pope Leo XIV: His Story and Australian Connection

112 pages plus 16-page colour insert

Many in Australia rejoiced when Cardinal Robert Prevost OSA was elected Pope, taking the name of Leo XIV. The new Pope was well known, having visited Australia six times from 2002 to 2010 while Prior General of the Augustinian Order.

The story of those visits is told in this book, together with a brief outline of the life of Pope Leo XIV, from his birth in Chicago, USA, to his many years of ministry in Peru, his work as Prior General and his activities as Bishop and Cardinal in the service of the Universal Church.

A key to understanding the new Pope, who describes himself as ‘an Augustinian, a son of St Augustine’, is to understand something of the spirituality bequeathed to the Church by St Augustine, the key elements of which are also outlined in this book.

Fr Dave Austin OSA was born in Brisbane and attended Villanova College. Ordained to the priesthood in Philadelphia in 1969, he has been involved in both school and parish ministries for many years. He was Prior Provincial (2014-18) and a member of the Order’s International Commission for Laity for twelve years. He is currently Prior and Associate Pastor at Holy Spirit Parish, St Clair, in western Sydney. His special interest is promoting Augustinian Spirituality among the laity, and he is currently National Chaplain of Friends of St Augustine.