Diocesan priest shares his history with the new Pontiff
By Tami S. Scott, editor
“We called him Father Bob,” said Father John Leo Oduor about Rev. Robert Prevost — known now, of course, as Pope Leo XIV. It was in the mid-2000s when Fr. Oduor, who prefers to be called Fr. Leo, was just a student, and our new pope was serving as general prior for the Augustinian congregation. They met in Nairobi, Kenya.
“He lived in Rome, and he used to come over to visit different communities, different apostolates,” said Fr. Leo, who eventually left the Augustinian order and is now the parochial vicar of Christ the Good Shepherd in Oswego. When he’d come to the formation house, a place where Augustinian students live and study as they prepare for religious life, “Father Bob” would live with them for a few weeks. That’s when the students could engage with their superior, sometimes even share meals.
Though he didn’t know him well, Fr. Leo remembers Pope Leo XIV as a simple priest at the time. “Very simple man,” he said. “Very humble, smiling, very kind and always quiet. He doesn’t talk much.”
He also recalls him being a good listener and described a time when he was sitting at the same table as the now-pope. “He could shoot a question and then we could answer, and he was quiet. He gives you time to speak … very thoughtful” — and funny, too. “He has a lot of humor when he speaks,” Fr. Leo added.
While the whole world was waiting to learn who would become the next pope, Fr. Leo and Father John Canorro, pastor of Christ the Good Shepherd, discussed Cardinal Prevost as a top contender. “I told Fr. John that, you know, Robert Prevost was my superior general when I was with the Augustinians. And Fr. John goes, ‘So do you think he can win?’ And I’m like, ‘I am praying that he becomes the pope.’ … And there we go. We were seated together, watching the outcome and the surprise was, it was Prevost. And I just stood from my chair, jumping up — you can ask him and [he will] tell you what the reaction was — I felt that excitement of very cool shock all [through] my body and I’m like, ‘I’ve lived with him! This is the Pope! Father Bob is the Pope!
When asked what type of papacy we might expect with Pope Leo XIV, Fr. Leo reflected on the love he showed for his students — how he would express his care and concern for their safety, and tell them to work hard because “you are the future church.”
“I think he’s going to bring that love to everyone, and with his simplicity, it’s just gonna show the world how simple people should be reaching out to each other with love,” said Fr. Leo. “So I think he’s gonna bring that love, that unity in the church.”
