By Dr. Frits H. Pangemanan, M.Sc.
(Head of the Center for Scientific Publications at the Graduate Studies of the Asian Social Institute, Manila, is an observer, researcher, and author based in Manila).
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“I am the son of Saint Augustine, an Augustinian” — Sono un figlio di Sant’ Agostino, Agostiniano, said Pope Leo XIV at the beginning of his very first speech in Italian from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican (8/5) after being elected Pope.
GREETING the world for the first time as the new leader of the world’s Catholic community, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, OSA, now Pope Leo XIV appeared in the spirit of St. Augustine. In the third minute of his historic speech in front of a crowd of more than 100,000 packed into St. Peter’s Square, the 267th Pope quoted Augustine’s famous saying: “Con voi sono Cristiano, e per voi Vescovo” – ‘With you I am a Christian, for you I am a Bishop’. On the Balcony of Honor, the Pope emerged like a new Augustine ready to renew the world.
The Augustinian spirit continues to be manifested in the Pope’s apostolic exhortation. “Therefore, let us walk together in unity of faith towards the homeland provided by the Lord.” Watched by the Cardinals who followed from the windows of the Basilica Balcony, the Pope from the Order of Saint Augustine’s Friars (Ordo Fratrum Sancti Augustini: OSA) invited enthusiastically the Church in unity with Christ to further build bridges, dialogue and openness towards peace and justice for a world that awaits the Church presence in love and charity.
From the outset of his speech, the Pope emphasized the major themes of St. Augustine’s theological reflections. Papal observer Fr. Johanis “Yance” Mangkey, MSC undeniably acknowledged Augustine’s breath in the Pope’s messages, including Communality, a shared pilgrimage towards the Divine, justice, peace, brotherly love, dialogue, and charity. “These are all important topics of St. Augustine’s reflections in many of his treatises, and even stated in the Regula Sancti Augustini (Rule No. 1),” said Fr. Mangkey who spent 12 years in Rome as Assistant General and the last four years as Secretary General of the MSC Congregation.
In Illo Uno Unum
Pope Leo XIV’s motto in the episcopal emblem even came from Augustine: In Illo Uno Unum — “In Him who is one, we are one.” With the motto of the mystical unity of Jesus, the Augustinian spirit was already present long before he became Pope during his episcopal tenure as Bishop, said Fr. Mangkey in a dialogue at his home at the MSC Provincial Headquarters in Jakarta (12/5).
This motto was taken from Augustine’s treatise Exposition on Psalm 127, which affirms the foundation of the Church’s faith. In his words: “… although we Christians are many, in the ONE Christ we are ONE.” The unity of Christ is the foundation of the Church according to him, which originates solely from God: “Unless the Lord builds the house, the builders’ labor in vain…” (Psalm 127:1). Augustine’s spirit has truly inspired Pope Leo XIV, just as Pope Francis based his vision on Francis of Assisi’s spirituality.
Originally from Manado (N. Sulawesi), Fr. Mangkey was very enthusiastic in discussing Pope Leo XIV who came from the same Alma Mater, the Catholic Theological Union (CTU) in Chicago, when both of them were studying for their Masters of Divinity. According to him, the Pope completed his studies in 1982, and a year after, in 1983, he himself just began his ‘Spirituality’ study at this school. Memories of the same Alma Mater made him convinced that the Pope’s apostolic vision grew from their school. This school was formed long ago through a merger of several Major Seminaries belonging to over 20 religious orders in America that were experiencing an enrollment crisis. The Second Vatican Council then proposed the consolidation of CTU. Surprisingly, the consolidation made CTU flooded with high-caliber professors from various theological-philosophical disciplines from these merged schools. The consolidation of such great professors at CTU greatly contributed to the formation of Pope Leo XIV’s vision, Fr. Mangkey added.
Interestingly, the Pontiff’s episcopal emblem is no less Augustinian. Its basic canvas depicts ‘unity and communion’ symbolizing the key-authority of St. Peter. The blue-based shield with white lilies implies the future of the Church in Augustine’s vision; while the yellow side holds the Bible with a heart pierced by an arrow in deep meaning. For the Augustinians, this symbolism is a metaphor for Augustine’s conversion, explained Fr. Mangkey. In his own Confessiones, Augustine reflectively tells of his re-encounter with God through the Word that pierced his heart. His conversion words then became famous: “Vulnerasti cor meum verbo tuo” – You have pierced my heart with Your Word.
In a dialogue with Vatican News as a newly-appointed Cardinal (2023), he confirmed his motto. “It is all truly part of the Chrism of the Order of St. Augustine which gives the mandate to promote the unity of the Church. We know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three keywords of the Synod,” said the former Bishop of Chiclayo-Peru (2015- 2023). “As an Augustinian, promoting unity and communion is fundamental,” he added. And in the important moment of the Homily of his Papal Inauguration Mass (18/5), he again opened his address by quoting Augustine: “You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until we rest in you” (Confessiones 1: 1.1).
AI Industrial Revolution
Interestingly, in his first meeting with the Cardinals in Rome (8/5), Pope Leo XIV explained his choice of the papal name. “There are different reasons for this, but mainly because Pope Leo XIII in his historic Encyclical Rerum Novarum addressed the crucial social problems in the context of the first great industrial revolution,” he stated. The Cardinals listened attentively to his orientation within the framework of his predecessor Leo XIII with his famous
Rerum Novarum (1891) which until now has been the baseline of the Church’s social teaching on account of its great concern for the restoration of the dignity of human equality.
He further elaborated: “In our own day, the Church offers everyone the treasury of her social teachings in response to another industrial revolution and to developments in the field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) that pose new challenges in the defence of human dignity, justice and labour. Social observers were quick to grasp the Pope’s policy direction in dealing with the civilization-changing conundrums of social media now driven by the AI-grounded industry.
Two important issues at the end of the Pope’s speech have become the subject of intense discussion on the global social media, said Fr. Mangkey. They are (1) The future direction of the new Rerum Novarum-model designed by Pope Leo XIV, and (2) The new urgency for the Church to anticipate the expansion of the AI industry. According to Fr. Mangkey who has long understood the common orientation of the papacy, these two relevant issues are simply based on one fundamental concern: “The Church wants to ensure that all technological and industrial developments under AI assure the realization of human dignity, without tearing apart morality.”
This former MSC Provincial highly praised the Pope’s plan for the AI Revolution. While waiting for the new papal policies and encyclicals, he could sense the Pontiff’s concern for young people succumbed by AI beyond the control of the educational world. He gave the example of AI which is currently able to massively manipulate voices, faces, and places and increasingly deceive the public. On his part, such AI manipulation has crossed ethical-moral boundaries. When Pope Francis died, AI manipulated something that falsified the ‘truth’ of the Pope’s condition. The ‘confidential’ conclave was also not spared from AI manipulation that falsified ‘facts’. Recently, there has been widespread information about the Pope’s response to the Open Letter of Burkina Faso President Ibrahim Treore. The public was fooled into believing this AI manipulation, which is now continuing to roll.
Although AI provides entertainments for teenagers in addition to its great benefits in human-life support technology, its negative effects have violated moral ethics. Therefore, the world of schools and education faces serious challenges to oversee these impacts. “The main teaching of the Church on this issue of AI is what people are now waiting for from Pope Leo XIV,” he added.
In his speech before the Cardinals, the Pope gave a clue to the direction of his policy. The main points of his policy, as he said, are still in line with the teachings of Pope Francis in the Apostolic Exhortation Evangelii Gaudium. They include six main points: (1) the return to the primacy of Christ in proclamation; (2) the missionary conversion of the entire Christian community; (3) growth in collegiality and synodality; (4) loyalty to the Church Sensus Fidei;(5) loving care for the least and the rejected; and (6) courageous and trusting dialogue with the contemporary world.
Indonesian OSA Hope
Papua is also concerned about AI through social media. “Papuan youth are not immune to the impact of social media with its changing and unpredictable values,” said Father Jan Pieter Fatem, OSA, Vicar of the Vicariate of Christus Totus Indonesia from his home in the Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong. He welcomed the Pope’s initiative on AI policy. For him, the Pope’s six policies are not just a reflection of documents, but also a rich affirmation of his own experience of Church life. “As a priest, the Pope visited Indonesia (Jan. 2003) in his capacity as the Augustinian leader to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the Indonesian OSA in Papua, and artiulated this faith in his sermons and discussions with the Order’s friars,” he said.
He was not surprised that the Pope emphasized the primacy of Jesus in preaching along with conversion and collegiality. “These things he himself lived with humility from being a priest to becoming Prior General (2001-2013),” he added. With his high intelligence capable of earning the highest law degree, he turned down an offer of legal education from Harvard University and chose theology to foster collegiality with the poor. This led him to obtain a Doctorate in Canon Law from the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in 1987 with a dissertation on the Order of the OSA as a form of his loyalty to Augustine.
The Pope’s solidarity with the poor was evident when he visited remote villages in Papua. Concerned about inequalities in Papua, he pushed the Church to change its apostolate to provide more space for the poor, Fr. Fatem recalled. Fr. Floridus Naja OSA, a lecturer at the Fajar Timur School of Philosophy and Theology, Jayapura, also praised the Pope’s simplicity. “While in Papua, the Pope always encouraged education and was willing to visit OSA schools on the outskirts of Sorong,” he said.
He touched all fronts, especially education as a means of maturing young people to enable them to dialogue with everyone. The Pope also encouraged the OSA friars to advance their education in order to empower people towards dialogues. OSA has thus far owned Vilanova Junior-and-Senior High School with a number of its priests teaching at the university in Jayapura. The total number of OSA is now 97 working in the Diocese of Manokwari-Sorong, Jayapura Diocese, Ketapang Diocese, and the Diocese of Timika (2025).
Fr. Fatem and Fr. Naja believe that the progress of OSA in Papua cannot be separated from the Pope’s contribution during his tenure as OSA Prior General. For them, the Pope’s real experience in Papua will encourage him to return to Papua. “The people really love Father Prevost, now the Pope. Their pride has become a widespread story in Papua, because they once experienced the Pontiff’s early ministry.” The visit of Pope Leo XIV will be a source of pride and honor for Indonesia, especially Papua.
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