In his first outing as pope, Leo XIV made an unannounced visit to a shrine dedicated to Saint Augustine in a small town outside of Rome, where he prayed before a famed icon housed there and met with members of the Augustinian order.

Die Zeit speaks with Father Lukas Schmidkunz, who has known Robert Provost for a long time, about the man who has become Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV prays at the tomb of Pope Francis in Rome’s Basilica of St. Mary Major on May 10, 2025. (CNS photo/Vatican Media) Less than 48 hours after being elected, Pope Leo XIV got in the front seat of a minivan and traveled 40 miles southeast from the Vatican to pray at a Marian shrine cared for by his Augustinian confreres.

Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago, is also the first pope to be an Augustinian. Here's what it means to be an Augustian. Augustinians are members of the Order of St. Augustine, an international Catholic religious community of men and women. Augustinians serve God and His people in diverse ministries as pastors, educators and missionaries.

Pope Leo XIV has celebrated mass and had lunch with members of his Augustinian religious order, slipping into the congregation’s headquarters outside