Stories

By Ines San Martin

When Father John Lydon heard the name “Roberto Francesco” announced from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, he didn’t need to wait for the surname. “I screamed in the house—it’s Bob!” he said. “I was filled with overwhelming joy, because I know the quality of the person, the spirit of the person. Independent of the fact that a friend of mine is pope—I felt joy for the Church.”

Father Lydon, a Canadian-born Augustinian, spent over four decades in Peru, including nearly ten years living and working with then-Father Bob Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV. Their shared missionary experience offers rare insight into the spiritual DNA of the Vicar of Christ on Earth.

“I don’t think of him as an American pope,” said Father Lydon. “He’s the pope of the universal Church who happens to have been born in the United States. His priestly formation happened in Peru, and those years are foundational.”

Indeed, Pope Leo XIV spent most of his ministry outside his home country—a rarity among recent popes. After his 1982 ordination, he began mission work in northern Peru in 1985. He would spend over two decades there in various roles: parish priest, seminary professor, director of formation, and ultimately bishop of Chiclayo.

From 1990 to 1999, Father Lydon and Father Prevost lived together in Trujillo at the Augustinians’ formation house, training Peruvian seminarians and serving two parishes. “We worked side by side,” Father Lydon recalled. “We taught in the major seminary, we served the poor, we built communities with the laity. Those were difficult years in Peru—marked by terrorism, poverty, and even a dictatorship. But Bob stayed. That says everything.”

That decision to remain amid violence and uncertainty, the priest believes, reflects a core pastoral conviction: “The Church must be at the side of the people, especially in the time of the cross. There was pressure from the U.S. for us to leave. We didn’t.”

Those years were marked by more than survival. “He was a builder of bridges,” Father Lydon recalled. “He organized soup kitchens in the poorest sectors of our parish. He led our efforts to promote human rights and gather signatures during the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration. But we weren’t political—we were defending human dignity, rooted in Christ.”

At the heart of all of it was mission—not just charity, but evangelization in the deepest sense. “We were doing the work of the Church,” Father Lydon said. “Motivated by Jesus, by the integral vision of evangelization described by Paul VI in Evangelii Nuntiandi. The cry of the poor is part of the Gospel.”

When Pope Leo appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s, his first unprepared words confirmed that foundation. “He talked about synodality, communion and mission,” Father Lydon remarked. “These three words, are not slogans for him. He wants a Church where the laity get involved and participate,” so the sacraments can be the primary focus of the priests, “he wants a Church that is rooted in the Eucharist, and a Church that evangelizes.”

“Those aren’t slogans for him. That’s who he is. We were living those things in Peru long before they became central themes of the Synod on Synodality under Pope Francis,” Father Lydon said.

Pope Leo’s emphasis on the laity, especially women, also echoes his early ministry. “Our parishes were organized around lay leaders,” Father Lydon said. “Every zone had a team. That’s how we reached hundreds of villages. The Church only existed in those places because of the laypeople. That’s the Church Pope Leo knows.”

Singing, playing tennis and cooking

Father Lydon described his friend the pope as a man who “was a light in dark times. A joyful presence. Easy to live with. Someone who sang, prayed, served, and believed. I’m happy for the Church—and for the world—that someone with his heart and history is now our Holy Father.”

Despite the weight of the office, glimpses of the man remain. “He loves to sing,” Father Lydon shared. “He had a good voice. In Peru, he’d sing folk songs at community events. And he made pizza on special occasions. It wasn’t Chicago deep dish, though—it was thin crust out of necessity. We were in a poor country during hard times.”

And yes, there’s tennis. “We never saw a tennis racket in Peru,” Father Lydon laughed. “But in Rome, he played weekly!”

Father Lydon is optimistic about Pope Leo’s impact on the missions. “He’ll be a great promoter of the missionary Church. The Church doesn’t just have a mission—the Church is mission. That’s especially true in the Global South, where there’s a shortage of clergy but a vibrant faith. Pope Leo understands that.”

For American Catholics, Lydon offers a gentle reminder. “He understands the U.S., but he’s not just our pope. He has to lead the Church in Nigeria, Vietnam, Brazil. The American Church is important, but it’s not the whole Church. We need to be patient and open to a global perspective.”