On May 8, Pope Leo XIV appeared for the first time on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. He introduced himself as follows: “I am the son of St. Augustine (354-430) and a member of the Augustinian Order.” With a smile on his face, he looked out at the world and the crowd and recited St. Augustine's famous words. “For you, I am a bishop, but with you, I am a Christian.” (Sermon 340,1) This is an excerpt from a sermon given by Saint Augustine, Bishop of Hippo, on the anniversary of his episcopal ordination.
Saint Augustine is quoted almost without exception in the new pope's speeches and homilies, and his influence is vividly evident in his writings and pastoral mottos. Who exactly is Saint Augustine?
It has been said that all ancient thought flows into Saint Augustine, and all later doctrinal traditions flow from him. (Pope Paul VI, May 4, 1970, speech at the opening ceremony of the University of Saint Augustine in Rome) It is also said that the path of Western Christianity and culture converges on Saint Augustine's diocese of Hippo and spreads out from there.
What significance does St. Augustine, who passed away 1,600 years ago, have for us today? St. Augustine and other Church Fathers provided numerous inspirations and pastoral sources for the Second Vatican Council (1962–1965), which became the driving force behind the modern Church's renewal. This is because the Church Fathers are the source of the “sacred tradition” that is connected to the Bible.
After the council ended, Pope Paul VI (1897–1978), who deeply felt the need for patristic studies, entrusted the Augustinian Order with establishing and operating a patristic research institute. Finally, in 1970, the Augustinian Patristic Institute opened with the blessing of Pope Paul VI.
Pope Leo XIV served as rector of this university from 2001 to 2013, and the patristic professors who teach there are his fellow monks. Pope Leo XIV, who specialized in canon law, taught canon law and patristics at a seminary in Peru, which was also a result of this tradition.
The heart pierced by an arrow and the book in the papal coat of arms are symbols of the Order of Saint Augustine. They represent Saint Augustine's confession, “You have shot an arrow into our hearts with your love, and we have been pierced by your words” (Confessions 9,2,3). The Pope's pastoral motto is taken from Psalm 127:3, written by the saint. The four-word Latin phrase seems simple at first glance. Literally translated, it means “In that One, we are one.” The Episcopal Conference's translation office considered the context and translated it as “In Christ, who is one, we are one.”
However, this short sentence contains St. Augustine's theory of “Totus Christus” (the whole Christ). Jesus Christ is the head of the Church, and we are His members; however, even after His resurrection and ascension, He continues to experience the suffering of the Church through trials, temptations, poverty, and deprivation in this world. Jesus, the head, is not resting on his heavenly throne, but is still suffering with his members, united with humanity from head to toe. The head is not separate from the body, nor is Christ separate from Christians. It is not that he is one and we are many, but that “in Christ, we are one.” This is the pastoral motto chosen by Pope Leo XIV.
In the following passage, St. Augustine concludes, “Therefore, Christ, who is both head and body (Christus caput et corpus), is one person.” The saint who taught us, “We are the Church!” goes further and proclaims, “We are Christ!” “We have not only become Christians, but we have become Christ Himself. We have become Christ!” This is the amazing insight of St. Augustine, which Pope John Paul II also emphasized: that you, I, and all of us are one Christ.
Pope Leo XIV will embrace all brothers and sisters in the world, as well as the poor and suffering, as Christ did, with the pastoral vision of “We are all one Christ!”
“In Illo Uno Unum” (In Him We Are One). Is the Pope's motto.
St. Augustine is the Church Father who left behind the most writings. His masterpiece, Confessions, has become a classic loved by many. However, the saint is not an old man in a classic. His words and writings are both old and new. For example, Pope Francis revised paragraph 2267 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, which refused to abandon the exceptional inevitability of the death penalty, and clearly stated that “the death penalty is... unacceptable.” This occurred in 2018. In correcting this doctrine, Pope Francis drew extensively on the teachings of Saint Augustine. He frequently relied on the authority of the Church Fathers
As Saint Vincent of Lérins (c. 445) said, doctrine grows. Just as a child grows into an adult, so too does doctrine grow and mature. Thanks to Pope Francis, who reintroduced and reinterpreted St. Augustine and other Church Fathers of this era, including Lactantius (c. 250–325), the Church finally came to possess a more mature and evangelical doctrine on capital punishment. Thus, the vast yet straightforward teachings of Saint Augustine will serve as an inexhaustible source of renewal for Pope Leo XIV and the Church.
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