Pope Leo XIV’s Pollachi connection

Pope Leo XIV, then Father Robert Francis Prevost, stands at the school gate of Shenbagam Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, during his visit in October 2006
| Photo Credit: Special Arrangement

Over 18 years ago, Father Robert Francis Prevost — now elected Pope, under the papal name Leo XIV — stood quietly outside a school gate in Pollachi, a small town in Tamil Nadu. He was serving as the Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine when he visited Shenbagam Matriculation Higher Secondary School in October 2006.

According to the Regional Vicar of the Augustinians in India, Father Prevost served as the Prior General of the Order from 2001 to 2013. During this period, he made two visits to India — in 2004 and 2006 — meeting Augustinian communities in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. On 22 April 2004, he concelebrated the ordination mass of six Augustinian deacons at St. Francis Xavier’s Church in Kathrikadavu near Kaloor, Kerala.

His second visit, in October 2006, brought him back to Kerala to participate in the Asia-Pacific Meeting of the Order of St. Augustine, held in Aluva.

During this trip, he made a two-day visit to Shenbagam School in Pollachi, which had then just come under the management of the Augustinian Fathers under the Diocese of Coimbatore. The school, originally established in 1995 by a local businessman, had fewer than 500 students when the transition took place.

At the school, Father Prevost interacted with the Augustinian Fathers and staff, and posed for a photograph that now holds renewed significance for the school community. His visit, modest at the time, has become a moment of quiet pride for those who remember it.

Father Sumesh Joseph Illikkaparambil holds up the photograph taken during Father Prevost’s visit in 2006
| Photo Credit:
M. Periasamy

The school’s current correspondent, Father Sumesh Joseph Illikkaparambil, displayed one of the photographs taken that day. In 2006, he was a 26-year-old brother undergoing formation to become a priest in Kerala. “We remember his visit vividly. He had come for the Asia-Pacific gathering in Aluva, and after that, he visited the school to see how the newly taken-over institution was functioning. That’s when the photo was taken — him standing humbly at our school gate,” he said.

“We never imagined then that he would go on to lead the Church. Nor did I imagine that I would one day serve as correspondent at the very school he visited.”Father Sumesh Joseph Illikkaparambil

“He is someone who likes to mingle with people and engage in outreach activities. The school has changed completely since his visit — we now have nearly 1,400 students and over 100 teaching and non-teaching staff,” added Father Sumesh.

“He may recall to the world his visit to India — especially Tamil Nadu — whenever he’s asked about his time in the region. We’re even planning to create a small memorial here to mark his visit,” he said.

As Pope Leo XIV begins his spiritual leadership from Rome, the school in Pollachi remembers the quiet afternoon a visiting priest stood at their gate, before history gave him a new name.