Pope Leo XIV is the Church’s first Augustinian pontiff, a former prior general of the Order of St. Augustine whose formation prizes community, interior honesty, and the search for truth in God. That heritage shows: In his first months he has reached instinctively for Augustine’s words to speak about unity, desire, and the Gospel’s power. It fits. Augustine (354–430) still captivates seekers and believers alike because he names our deepest longing and our need to belong—a heart hungry for God and a people knit together in charity.
Here are seven of Leo’s Augustine quotes so far, with the moments he chose them—and why they mattered.
“Let us live well and the times will be good. We are the times.”
Address to representatives of the media, May 12, 2025.
Leo quoted Augustine to challenge journalists to “disarm words” and serve peace. In more ways than one, the phrase is a summary of Augustine’s understanding of the fundamental entanglement of subjectivity, temporality, and history. In short, history (and our own biographies) is not some universal independent force. On the contrary, it is the sum of our choices. Live the Beatitudes, he implies, and you change the climate of conversation.
“Lord, you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you.” (Conf. I,1,1)
Homily at the Beginning of the Pontificate, May 18, 2025.
He opened his ministry with Augustine’s most famous confession, placing his papacy under the sign of holy desire—only God finally satisfies the human heart. From that starting point he sketched a service marked by love and unity.
“The Church consists of all those who are in harmony with their brothers and sisters and who love their neighbor.” (Serm. 359,9)
Same inaugural homily, May 18, 2025.
Here Leo tied Peter’s ministry to communion: authority is charity, and the Church is recognized by concord and concrete love of neighbor—a demanding, everyday ecclesiology.
“In the One—that is Christ—we are one.” (Enarr. in Ps. 127,3)
Address to representatives of other Churches and religions, May 19, 2025.
Recalling his episcopal motto In Illo uno unum, Leo used Augustine to anchor ecumenical and interreligious outreach: unity isn’t vague harmony but a gift found in Jesus Christ, who gathers many into one.
“The crowd jostles, faith touches.” (Serm. 243,2,2)
General Audience, June 25, 2025.
Commenting on the Gospel of the woman healed by touching Jesus’ cloak, Leo quoted Augustine to distinguish surface contact from living trust. It’s a summons to move from habit to encounter.
“Love this Church; be this Church… that there may be one flock and one shepherd.” (Serm. 138,10; excerpt)
Address to the Clergy of Rome, June 12, 2025.
Speaking to his own priests, Leo ended with Augustine’s ardent plea: love the Church into unity, pray for the scattered, and live as one body under the Good Shepherd.
“Each single believer was speaking in all languages; and now the unity of believers is speaking in all languages.” (Serm. 269,1; excerpt)
Homily opening the Augustinian General Chapter, September 1, 2025.
At the Basilica of St. Augustine, Leo returned to Pentecost: today the Spirit’s “many tongues” sound through a united people. Listening, humility, and unity, he said, are the Chapter’s measure.
Taken together, Leo’s Augustinian thread isn’t a slogan bank; it’s a map. Desire leads to God; God gathers us; gathered, we speak credibly to the world. That’s not just good theology—it’s good news.
