Yesterday Leone XIV, speaking to the cardinals, spoke of hope and in his text he postponed to the encyclical Spe Salvi of 2007. Robert Francis Prevost is a theologian And he is also an admirer of the predecessor that most of all, in recent history, has left an important mark in the world of theology: Joseph Ratzinger.
The meeting
Leone XIV is a very proud Augustinian of belonging to an order of which the Prior General was from 2001 to 2013. Ratzinger, on the other hand, owes a lot to Augustinian theology so much so that he dedicated his Doctoral thesis to the theme “People and house of God in the doctrine of the church of Sant’Agostino” In 1953 Pavia In 2007 and in particular celebrating the Vespers in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’oro. A special place because here is the urn with the remains of Sant’Agostino. To welcome him to church was the then general prior of the Augustinians Robert Francis Prevost who earned a mention in Ratzinger’s homily. Benedict XVI said he wanted to give a greeting “In a special way to the Prior General of the Augustinians, Father Robert Francis Prevost”. That homily is one of the most beautiful in pontificate by Benedict XVI who deepened the three conversions of the Hippone saint.
World Youth Day
Afterelection The media all over the world have sown every single Professional X Professional tweet open in 2011. Leone XIV inaugurated its social presence with a tweet dedicated to Ratzinger on the eve of the World Youth Day (GMG) of Madrid. Prevost twitted:“Waiting for the arrival of Pope Benedict XVI to Cuatro Vientos. All united in prayer”. In two years he will have to preside over the new edition of the GMG in Korea. The great event invented by John Paul II with the collaboration of the then Monsignor Paul Josef Cordes will return to Asia after 32 years. The last time he had been hosted in Manila, in the Philippines, in 1995.
In the gardens
The Augustinians are at home in the Vatican because from the fourteenth century they manage the pontifical sacristy and therefore prepare furnishings and vestments for the Pope. Not only that. The parish of the small state is also entrusted to this order, the church of Sant’Anna dei Palafrenieri. Benedict XVI, even after the renunciation of 2013, considered “his” parish priest an Augustinian. In the years after the renunciation the parish priests were father Bruno Silvestrini And then Father Mario Milladi.
This circumstance meant that the Augustinian community in the Vatican was often received by the Pope emeritus guest at the Mater Ecclesiae monastery. Even from the reigning pope he used to receive the Augustinians and on one occasion they were accompanied by the then Prior Prevost. To accompany the future Pope was Father Silvestrini, now custodian of the Pontifical Sacrario and the historical memory of the Augustinians in the Vatican Father Gioele Schiavella. There is a photo to immortalize the cordiality that existed between Leo XIV and Benedict XVI, smiling portraits under the mosaic of a Madonna and Child found in the Vatican gardens.
In the years of his retirement, the Pope emeritus used to meet his guests right in the green area close to the monastery that traveled to recite the Rosary. Who knows if Ratzinger imagined for a moment he met his successor.