Father Arthur “Art” Purcaro, an Augustinian of Villanova, has come to know many people through his life in a religious order. Now, he can add a pope to that list of people he knows.
“I’m still pinching myself,” Father Art told Catholic Climate Covenant Program Manager Paz Artaza-Regan over email. “[I] cannot believe the good news of the election of a close friend and colleague in Peru and Rome. I am bursting with joy. What a great affirmation of a shared vision of the Church.”
Pope Leo XIV came from the Augustinian religious order and lived, worked, and prayed alongside Father Art.
“I have been privileged to be with Cardinal Prevost at this time; prior to the conclave, we had arranged to celebrate my 50th anniversary of ordination together, a simple Mass. But God had other plans and called Pope Francis to himself, and so April 26th found both the cardinal and myself concelebrating at Francis’ funeral. Now I will join him for the inaugural papal Mass this coming Sunday (May 18)!”
Father Art wrote for us the following reflection, an Augustinian approach to Laudato Si’, “which flows from my heart as we rejoice in the moment of grace in which we live”:
An Augustinian Approach to Laudato Si’, by Father Art Purcaro
We praise and thank our loving God, creator of all that exists, for having chosen a gentle missionary bishop, a son of Augustine, to shepherd us at this time, so distant from the time when Augustine himself faced the undoing of an empire, yet remarkably similar to the moment we are now living.
Augustine repeatedly encouraged all to recognize and give testimony to the God who loves us all and gave all that exists to all of us to share among us in a divine plan of communion; as Pope Francis stated, “everything is interconnected.”
Want and waste go hand in hand. Hearing the cries of the poor means being attentive to the cry of the planet, our common home.
In that spirit of communion, we recall and commit ourselves to striving to live the way of life with which Augustine and many others throughout the centuries have followed Christ.
- Honor God in one another.
- Do not call anything your own, but have everything in common.
- Pride lies in ambush even for good deeds.
- It is better to need less than to have more.
- Do not try to please by your clothes but by your behavior.
- Put the common good before your own.
- Love the person, hate the offense.
- Let the mouth that caused the wound provide the cure by asking for forgiveness.
- Not as slaves under the law, but as free persons founded in grace.
- Have one mind and one heart, entirely centered upon God.
May our hearts always be restless, searching together for ways to build a better world for all.
