Trinamool Congress Rajya Sabha MP Derek O’Brien took to social media platform X on Friday to reflect on a historic moment — Robert Francis Prevost, now known as Pope Leo XIV, the 267th head of the Roman Catholic Church’s second visit to India.
O’Brien posted a photograph from 2006 showing Prevost at Shenbagam School in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, during a visit to India when he was 50 years old.
Fr Robert Francis Prevost was serving as the global head — Prior General — of the Order of St. Augustine.
His visit to Shenbagam Matriculation Higher Secondary School, run by the Augustinian Fathers under the Diocese of Coimbatore, took place in October 2006.
He had visited India from October 3 to 6 to participate in the Asia-Pacific meeting of the Order of St. Augustine held in Aluva.
During this trip, he made the visit to the Pollachi school.
The image captured Prevost outside the school gate.
The Vatican confirmed on Thursday the election of Prevost as the first pope from the United States.
Taking the papal name Leo XIV, he is described as a moderate figure with close ties to his predecessor, Pope Francis.
Pope Leo XIV has spent many years in Peru, where he was involved in missionary work and committed to the global mission of the Catholic Church.
His connection with India goes back to 2004 when he visited India for the first time.
He had then visited Kerala, where he celebrated the Holy Eucharist at the Basilica of Our Lady of Varapuzha in the Archdiocese of Verapoly.
The Basilica of Our Lady of Mount Carmel and St. Joseph, known as Varapuzha Basilica, is a religious site in the Archdiocese of Verapoly in Kerala, India.
The visit left a profound impact on local clergy and the faithful, marked by his simplicity, humility, and a deep sense of brotherhood.
The Augustinian Order has a long-standing presence in India, dating back 450 years to the arrival of Portuguese missionaries in Goa.
Today, the Order of St. Augustine operates three parishes and two schools across the country.
The Order comprises 2,800 priests serving in 47 countries.
