Father Francesco Maria Giuliani OSA is a friend, confrere and brother in the Augustinian family of Pope Leo XIV. A Roman priest and member of the Order of Saint Augustine since his religious profession in 1995, Father Giuliani has served in various roles within the Order. He has long been based at the Augustinian Basilica of Santa Maria del Popolo in Rome and, since 2024, has served as parish priest of Santa Rita in Tor Bella Monaca. He first met Fr Robert Francis Prevost when the future Pope was elected Prior General in 2001, and their relationship has remained one of deep and respectful friendship ever since.

In this candid and affectionate conversation, Father Giuliani shares rare personal insights into the Pope he has known as a fellow friar. He reflects on how the pontificate has both confirmed and deepened the qualities he already admired. He offers thoughtful observations on Pope Leo’s selection of bishops, which he describes as more measured and merit-based than some expected, as well as his approach to the Traditional Latin Mass and the nature of their friendship, which has necessarily changed since the election yet remains rooted in the Augustinian ideal of fraternal equality and mutual support.

AV: First of all, Father, tell us, who are you?

FG: In the photo below, I was meeting Pope Francis. It was 2013. Father Prevost was the Prior General who introduced me as Fr Francesco Maria Giuliani from Rome. The Pope said to me, “From Rome itself? Roman priests from Rome itself are rare!” and I felt privileged. Pope Francis had the ability to make you feel important. He added, “Pray for me.”

I have been an Augustinian since 1995. I am currently the parish priest of Santa Rita, in a difficult neighbourhood on the outskirts of Rome. It is a demanding but very beautiful task. I chose the Order of Saint Augustine because I was fascinated — and called — by the charism of living the faith and the search for God in communion with the brothers whom the Holy Spirit chooses to unite in Him who is one, Christ.

AV: As we celebrate the first anniversary of Pope Leo’s election to the See of Peter, how would you describe the man you have known for years, in light of the extraordinary burden he now carries on his shoulders?

“He perfectly reconciles seriousness and friendliness, professionalism and warmth.”

FG: I can confess that I never thought he would become pope — not because I didn’t consider him suitable, but because the figure of the Pope had always seemed distant to me. I saw him as someone completely different from my small world. Perhaps a bit irreverently, I even said it to him when we met after his election: “You know, before this it seemed to me that the Pope came down from a distant planet — I still can’t believe it’s really you!”

I have known him since he became our Prior General in 2001. He is a man who perfectly reconciles seriousness and friendliness, professionalism and warmth. He is very diligent but never distant. He is naturally somewhat shy and reserved, yet he has never withdrawn when there was an opportunity to be together, to joke, to share stories and experiences. He is very cordial and very reliable. I have always seen in him this extraordinary ability to combine two aspects that seem opposed.

AV: Looking back over this past year, which moments or decisions of Pope Leo’s pontificate have most reminded you of the friend you knew before his election, and which have surprised you the most?

FG: Even as Prior General, Father Prevost stood out for his attention to unity and peaceful concord, his strong call to help the poorest and victims of injustice, and the value he placed on study and the common search for God as the one treasure that can unite everyone.

I certainly expected his insistence on unity, dialogue and openness to encounter with all. He does not present himself as the holder of a truth to be imposed, but as a seeker of the mystery that we can only help one another to unveil and savour together.

I also find that his attention to the poor is in continuity with Pope Francis, but has its own distinctive features. Father Prevost, following Augustine, has always spoken of solidarity with the least in terms of justice rather than mere assistance. He has often reminded us not only to do something for the poor, but to commit ourselves fully so that the dynamics of power and injustice that condemn so many to poverty are broken. His approach seems more systemic and “political” in the sense of wanting to address the social and global issues that cause poverty.

What has surprised me is not something new in him, but rather the depth of something I already knew. I see him as very stable and confident in his thinking and deliberate action, capable of managing the situations he faces, tireless in the endless series of commitments he carries out without showing fatigue or inadequacy. Yet he is not lacking in emotion; on the contrary, he has not lost any of his cordiality.

AV: You shared a deep friendship with Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost before he became Pope Leo. Could you share a personal memory from the years of your friendship that, in your opinion, best illustrates the kind of Pope he would become?

FG: Some journalists began mentioning his name shortly before the conclave, but I couldn’t believe it was possible — I couldn’t see him as pope. For me, it is difficult to separate Father Prevost from Pope Leo.

I remember when I had a difficult assignment with the Augustinians and he was very understanding and fatherly towards me. He said, “In anything I can do to help you, remember that I am here and you can turn to me.” Those words were very reassuring and made me feel safe, in good hands. And now I have the same perception: that the Church is in good hands.

“He has surprised expectations by using prudence and foresight.”

AV: As someone who perhaps knows the heart of Pope Leo better than anyone else, how do you evaluate his choice of bishops in this first year? Has he chosen men in the way you expected, or has the reality of the Petrine office shaped his choices differently from when he was still Father Robert Prevost?

FG: I find that he has made very reasoned and thoughtful choices. Frankly — perhaps naively — I would have expected more “turnover” with people closer to him in thought and vision of the Church and the world. He has not given in to the spoils of the system and has chosen the right people for the right roles. Perhaps some expected faster intervention from him in certain situations, but he has surprised expectations by using prudence and foresight.

AV: Many Catholics want to understand Pope Leo’s thinking regarding the Traditional Latin Mass. From your long relationship, can you give us any insight into how he views the Traditional Latin Mass, its place in the life of the Church, and whether his thinking on this topic has evolved since becoming Pope?

FG: Frankly, on this specific point I wouldn’t know what to say — we have never spoken about it. As an Augustinian, he is certainly attentive to safeguarding the substance while remaining open to diversity of forms. He is a man of reconciliation and dialogue, which is very different from compromise.

I don’t know if he will be forced to make some decision on the matter, but I am sure his first reaction would be to say that there are far more urgent problems.

AV: Friendship with a Pope is a rare and precious thing. In what way has your relationship changed since the day of his election? Are there aspects that have remained exactly the same and aspects that have necessarily become different?

FG: I would say it has completely changed. Already when he was a cardinal, I felt awkward about contacting him, but now I behave exactly like any other faithful person, with no preferential channel. If we see each other at some audience — him as Pope and me in the crowd — he gives a warm and personal nod of greeting, but I am fully aware that he is now the Pope and the father and brother of all. I cannot and do not want to be different from any other faithful. I know he is close to me as to everyone else, but now the Pope comes before the confrere.

AB: Is there a particular quality or virtue in Pope Leo that, in your opinion, the wider Church has not yet fully discovered, but which you have known and cherished throughout your friendship?

FG: Precisely his capacity for friendship, his cordiality, his closeness. He is a person of relationship; I think this can be appreciated even more by those who have the grace of being close to him.

AB: On this first anniversary, if you could speak privately to the Pope as his old friend, what would you especially like to tell him about the year that has passed and the years that lie ahead?

FG: I would like to support and encourage him, to be able to say to him what he once said to me: “In whatever way I can help you, I am here” — but obviously I would not be able to help him carry the burdens that the papacy has placed upon him. 

When I have had the opportunity to speak with him, I have tried to lighten the moment, to talk about memories and anecdotes, to smile together and enjoy a little lightness. Although I would like to be able to share opinions on the issues that worry him most, I have assured him that I pray for his intentions.

AV: Finally, Father Francesco, in what way has knowing and loving Pope Leo as a brother in Christ deepened your own faith and your prayer for the Church during this first year of his pontificate?

FG: This is a very profound question. At first, the election of Pope Leo somewhat put me in crisis, as if something I lived as sacred and unattainable suddenly became close and familiar. I feel much more called to deepen and witness my faith, now that — indirectly and unintentionally — an interest has grown around me and my Augustinian family that has increased in me the sense of responsibility and seriousness in bearing witness to the faith in the style of Saint Augustine.

AV: Thank you very much for your time Father Francesco, and your priestly ministry.