Tulsa’s Catholic, Augustinian school erupted at midday Thursday with cheers of “Viva il Papa!” and chants of “USA, USA!” after teachers alternately burst into tears of joy and sprinted to share on the loudspeaker the news of an Augustinian and American being named pope.
In the stunned moments that followed, many individuals at Cascia Hall Preparatory School, or with past ties to the school community, realized that now-Pope Leo XIV was the very same man who had served in their midst as an active member of Cascia’s board of directors from 1999 to 2001.
“He has a good heart, and he loves people. He’s very interested in people on the margins because he spent so many years in the missions and dealing with the realities of poverty,” said Father Philip Cook, headmaster at Cascia. “He was also a bishop and administrator, so I hope all of those experiences will help him serve as a shepherd who will be a servant, not just to the Church but to the whole world.”
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Pope Leo, whose given name was Robert Prevost, was the superior over Augustinians of the Midwest, which is all members in the center of the U.S. in the Order of St. Augustine, from 1999 to 2014. That includes Augustinian schools such as Cascia Hall.
Father Philip Cook celebrates with Cascia Hall students in the hallway after the new pope, a former board member of the Augustinian Catholic school in Tulsa, was announced Thursday.
Junior Ryan Ross said he was in theology class when word went out that white smoke was visible at the Vatican. His teacher stopped everything to tune a television into news coverage, “so it felt like you were immediately a part of it.”
When Prevost was announced as Pope Leo XIV, Ross said his teacher Deacon Charles Beard sprinted out of the classroom to the school’s loudspeaker.
“The last time I was so young, I don’t remember that. This one? I’m gonna remember where I was, being in an Augustinian school, with Augustinian priests, and being from the United States. It’s definitely a surreal thing to get to see,” said Ross. “My dad texted to say, ‘Your grandparents knew him when he was here.’ To have someone of that stature, at the peak of religion as a human, that he himself has invested effort as a board member here, it’s a huge opportunity.”
Cook is one of four Augustinian friars who live in the monastery attached to Cascia, and Thursday’s election of the first-ever Augustinian pope came as a personal shock to one and all.
“Pope Francis was the first Jesuit pope, and immediately following, the Cardinals have selected the first Augustinian. … My hope is he will continue Pope Francis’ work. It’s still really shocking, though,” said Cook. “To me, that’s a mark of the (holy) spirit — giving us a surprise.”
Father Jack Hibbard has ties to Pope Leo XIV that go way further back than his days on the Cascia Hall Board of Directors.
They grew up together in the same village of Dolton on the south side of Chicago.
“I’m four years older than him, but I was in the same class with his oldest brother, Louis,” said Hibbard. “We all knew the Prevost family, his mom and dad, at St. Mary of the Assumption. You always knew when you heard his mother’s voice in the choir.”
The Rev. Theodore E. Tack, from left, the Rev. David L. Brecht, Milann Siegfried, the Most Rev. Edward Slattery, the Rev. Bernard Scianna and the Rev. Robert Prevost are pictured at Cascia Hall in 1999.
While the thought of an American as pope was unheard of before Thursday, Hibbard said he couldn’t help but hope that his hometown guy had a shot — at some point.
“Part of me was hoping, knowing the type of man he is, knowing he was the type of man we needed,” said Hibbard. “I thought maybe not this time but maybe next time. I still couldn’t believe it when I heard the name. But when he walked out onto that balcony, he looked just like Bob Prevost!”
Father Joe Roccasalva readily admitted to bursting into tears at school on Thursday.
But it wasn’t until he saw Prevost walk out before the television cameras, because he said he simply could not believe his own ears when Prevost’s name was read moments before his appearance.
Roccasalva was on a group pilgrimage last summer in which the group of priests spent three days in Rome. And they just happened upon then-Cardinal Prevost on three separate occasions.
The Rev. Joe Roccasalva, a Tulsa Catholic priest, displays a photo on his cellphone from last summer, when he was on a pilgrimage and met now-Pope Leo XIV in Rome. The pope, who was then-Cardinal Robert Prevost, is in black in the center, while Roccasalva, who lives at the monastery at Cascia Hall Preparatory School in Tulsa, is at the right, just behind Prevost.
After the second one, their group was invited to dine with Prevost. The next day, when they saw him again, they asked him for a group photo, which Roccasalva was proudly showing everyone in the halls at Cascia Hall on Thursday afternoon.
“I think one of the important things that may have helped was the last homily right before they went into conclave was about unity and not uniformity. And that’s one of the core values that we, as Augustinians, uphold is unity in harmony with each other. We are not all going to be the same, but we have to learn how to work together even when we are on completely opposite sides,” said Roccasalva.
“So that’s my hope, that as pope he is going to bring that to the forefront as Catholic faith, especially as we are all in different directions. There’s lots of tension now.”
Father Philip Cook, center, headmaster of Cascia Hall, talks about the newly elected Pope Leo XIV on Thursday at Holy Family Cathedral. Born Robert Prevost, the Catholic Church's 267th pontiff was formerly on the Cascia Hall board. “Pope Francis was the first Jesuit pope, and immediately following, the Cardinals have selected the first Augustinian. … It’s still really shocking though,” Cook said. “To me, that’s a mark of the (holy) spirit — giving us a surprise.”
An undated photo from Cascia Hall shows the school's former board member Robert Prevost, left, now Pope Leo XIV. With him are the Rev. Henry Spielmann, center, and the Rev. Theodore E. Tack.
Former Cascia Hall board member Robert Prevost is among those honored with a plaque at the Tulsa school. Prevost was elected to succeed Pope Francis to become the church's 267th pontiff.
An undated photo shows the Rev. Robert Prevost, center, now Pope Leo XIV, with others at Cascia Hall Preparatory School.
