What you should know about St. Augustine and the new Augustinian Pope

With the election of Pope Leo XIV, a professed Augustinian, going back to the profound legacy of St. Augustine, one of the Church’s most influential thinkers, seems indispensable. Augustine’s life and writings offer profound insights into the nature of forgiveness, memory, and selfhood—concepts that resonate deeply with the mission of a pope rooted in his legacy.

At the heart of Augustine’s thought is a striking insight into the nature of the human self. In Confessions, Augustine famously reflects on the fragmented nature of his soul, describing himself as “scattered among times” he can’t understand, and struggling to gather his disparate desires and thoughts into a coherent whole. This inner disarray is not simply a byproduct of sin but a feature of the human condition itself—a consequence of existing within time and constantly moving toward nonexistence. Augustine’s concept of the self as both episodic (the self that changes over time) and persistent (the self we can recognize in our memories, even though we are “no longer” that person) captures this tension, suggesting that the true self is not simply a collection of past memories but a deeper, persistent core that remains even when everything else seems to change and, eventually, pass away.

This fragmented self finds unity through what Augustine calls continentia, a kind of spiritual containment that gathers the scattered pieces of the self into a single, integrated whole. This movement towards unity is both an inward and upward journey, reflecting Augustine’s famous line from the Confessions: “You were more inward than my innermost self” (interior intimo meo).

Central to Augustine’s spiritual vision is the idea of forgiveness as a transformative, present moment—a “right now” that interrupts the monotonous sequence of “one tomorrow after another,” cras et cras, in the original Latin. This understanding of forgiveness goes beyond the simple remission of sins to include a profound, existential re-collection of the self, a sudden gathering of the scattered parts into a unified whole. It is not merely about the erasure of past sins but about becoming a “new creation,” a self that is freed from the chains of past wrongdoing.

Augustine’s famous conversion scene captures this precisely. In a moment of intense inner conflict, Augustine describes feeling as if he is bound by the smallest of chains, unable to break free until the grace of conversion allows him to stand “upright” (factus erectior) and embrace a new, integrated self. This rebirth, this radical “now,” is a central aspect of Augustine’s understanding of forgiveness. It is an act of divine grace, yes, but also an act of self-appropriation—a reclaiming of one’s true self, often hidden beneath layers of habit and memory.

For Augustine, memory is a powerful but double-edged gift. It is both the source of our identity and the site of our deepest struggles. While memory allows us to recall and integrate past experiences, it also confronts us with the limits of our understanding and the persistent shadows of past sins. This paradox is central to Augustine’s concept of selfhood, where the episodic and persistent aspects of the self are constantly in dialogue.

Pope Leo XIV, drawing from this rich Augustinian heritage, may emphasize the importance of remembering not just our sins, but also the divine grace that constantly calls us to renewal and transformation. In a world often defined by its divisions and distractions, this focus on unity, self-possession, and radical forgiveness could shape his papacy in profound ways.

As the Church stands at a crossroads in a fractured world, an Augustinian pope has the unique challenge of calling the faithful to a deeper, more integrated life. This means encouraging a form of spiritual unity that transcends mere institutional reform and touches the very soul of the Church. Pope Leo XIV, like his namesake, will likely draw on this powerful legacy to remind us that true reform begins within, in the often hidden work of personal conversion and reconciliation.

In Augustine’s words, “Our heart is restless until it rests in You.” This restlessness, this constant striving for unity, is a challenge that the Church must confront anew in every generation—and one that an Augustinian pope is uniquely equipped to lead.