Villanova University: the pope’s alma mater 

 

CNA Staff, May 9, 2025 / 17:58 pm (CNA).

Before he was pope, he was a math major at a Catholic liberal arts university in Pennsylvania.

Pope Leo XIV is the 267th head of the Catholic Church. He’s also a class of ‘77 alumnus of Villanova University, which is run by the Order of St. Augustine.

When he was elected to the papacy on May 8, Pope Leo made history as the first pope from the United States.

A campus abuzz

Amid a busy finals week, bells began to ring on Villanova’s campus Thursday afternoon. Helicopters circled above. Throngs of students hurried to the chapel.

The campus slowly began to discover that the newly-elected pontiff was an alumnus.

“It was pure shock in the moment — there’s no other way to put it,” said Villanova student Drew Figge, a freshman from Missouri. “No one really expected it and it took a while for us to realize that we were on the same campus as a pope had been.”

Despite it being finals week, with many students having already started to move out, there was a “buzz” all around campus, Figge said. The church bells were “ringing for hours playing our alma mater,” and at St. Thomas of Villanova Church, “numerous people of all ages” had gathered.

“It’s really cool to think that we are the only college in the country that had a pope graduate from it, so it really sets us apart,” Figge told CNA.

The buzz even made its way online.

Pope Leo’s alumni status made the Trending page on X: “New pope’s academic background stirs online buzz,” it read on Thursday.

“This is crazy!” one priest said, according to the university’s senior associate athletic director, Dana O’Neil, who described on X the scene on Thursday afternoon.

“Villanova has God’s divine approval. Is it ever a bad day to be a Wildcat?” quipped one user.

Jaisy Joseph, an assistant professor of theology at Villanova, told CNA that everything has felt “surreal.”

“From the announcement onwards, the church bells were ringing nonstop in celebration,” Joseph said. “Students, faculty, and staff transition from shock to tears to joy.”

“What an exciting time to be here at Villanova!” added Alex Dailey, a freshman from Raleigh, North Carolina.

“Villanova has always been a big part of my family, and my Catholic faith is super important to me,” Dailey told CNA. “So seeing a Villanova alum leading our Church is really inspiring to the university community.”

Dailey added that he “look[s] forward to this fresh new start for the Catholic Church, for my school, for my country, and for my classmates and myself.”

Bishop Michael Burbidge of Arlington, Virginia, an alumnus of Villanova, said the news “overwhelmed” him with joy.

“I think the Augustinians, Villanova, our country, believe that we’ve given, through the grace of God and the Holy Spirit, a great gift to the universal Church,” he told “EWTN News Nightly” anchor Catherine Hadro.  

With the papal election, Villanova has “lots of joy and every reason to be proud,” Burbidge said.

The president of Villanova, Father Peter Donohue, reflected on the future of “this new chapter of Catholic leadership” and what it means for the school and the world.

“May we be challenged to reexamine our role in fostering an academic environment that remains steadfast in faith yet boldly engages with the complexities of the modern world,” he said.

The university is named for a 16th-century Spanish Augustinian friar, St. Thomas of Villanova. Nicknamed the “Beggar Bishop,” the saint is remembered for his simple life and inspiring preaching.

What was the pope like on campus?

As a child, Robert Francis Prevost already had an inkling that he might want to be a priest. Born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago, he decided to attend a seminary school run by the Order of St. Augustine. After graduating from St. Augustine High School Seminary in Holland, Michigan, in 1973, he went on to attend Villanova University.

While at Villanova, Prevost was an active member of the university’s long-standing pro-life club “Villanovans for Life,” the oldest pro-life college club, according to its website. Prevost was a close friend of the two founders of the group and attended various marches for life with the group.

As a young college student, Prevost joined the Order of St. Augustine’s pre-novitiate, an early stage of preparation before becoming a religious. The year he graduated from Villanova, he joined the Order of St. Augustine as a novitiate.

Prevost has stayed connected to Villanova over the years, usually stopping by campus whenever he returned to the United States, according to Donohue.

In 2014, Prevost returned to campus to receive an honorary doctorate of humanities. He also served as a board member at the university for a brief amount of time when he was the provincial for the Midwest province of the Augustinians. Last October, he said Mass in St. Peter’s Crypt beneath St. Peter’s Basilica for a group of visiting Villanova students.

Now, Pope Leo XIV has become the first Augustinian friar to be pope.

‘An Augustinian papacy’

As an Augustinian priest himself, Donohue reflected on what an “Augustinian papacy will mean to our university community and our world.”

“Villanova, built on the teachings of St. Augustine, has always been grounded in advancing a deeper understanding of the fundamental relationship between faith and reason — between spirituality and wisdom,” Donohue said in a statement shared with CNA.

The new pope’s educational background encompasses reason and faith — mathematics and theology — as it includes a bachelor of science degree in mathematics, a master of divinity degree from the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, and a licentiate and doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical College of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.

But the new pope is also “known for his humility, gentle spirit, prudence, and warmth,” Donohue said.

The earliest origins of the Order of Augustine trace back to St. Augustine of Hippo and his rule of monastic life in the late fourth and early fifth centuries, but it was Pope Innocent IV who officially founded the Augustinians in 1244.

St. Augustine, a doctor of grace, is known for his countless theological contributions to the early Church, most famously his works “Confessions” and “The City of God.” He penned the line “our hearts are restless until they rest in you, O God,” around the year 400, which still resonates with people today.  

“Something tells me … we’re going to be hearing a lot about St. Augustine,” Burbidge said.

As a Villanova theology professor, Joseph said that “many of us are thinking about how to help our students deepen their understanding of the Augustinian charism.”

“This moment brings the Augustinian charism of unitas, veritas, and caritas [unity, truth, and love], which also happens to be the Villanova motto, to the centers of Rome,” she reflected.