This year, Leo XIV has decided to make two journeys of great symbolic value: to Annaba in Algeria, not far from Tagaste (today, April 14), and to Pavia to visit the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro (June 20). Two places of great significance for the Augustinian Pope.

In Tagaste, on November 13, 354, Aurelius Augustine was born, who went down in history as Saint Augustine. He was a philosopher, bishop, theologian, and today is a Doctor and saint of the Catholic Church. Seventy-five years later, while the Vandals of Genseric besieged Hippo, Augustine was struck by a fatal illness and died on August 28, 430. In 718, his coffin, venerated for centuries in Sardinia, in Cagliari, where it had been taken by exiles fleeing the Vandal invasion of North Africa, was transferred to Pavia by the Lombard king Liutprand. Since then, his remains have been kept in the Basilica of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro, whose custodians are the spiritual sons of Saint Augustine.

In the Augustinian community of Pavia lives Mons. Giovanni Scanavino, a priest since 1964, former general assistant of the Order, prior of the Augustinian communities of Milan and of the shrine of Saint Rita of Cascia, and provincial of the Augustinian Province of Italy; from 2003 to 2011 he was bishop of Orvieto. Today he lives next to the tomb of Saint Augustine, of whom he is a spiritual son. I spoke with him about Leo XIV.

You are a spiritual son of Saint Augustine, a bishop of Hippo from the 4th century. What does it mean to be Augustinian today, in the 21st century?

– Augustine has always been presented as a great knower of the love of God and has always presented it as the greatest value of his entire story. Therefore, Augustine cannot be separated from God as love, from God as charity. Today’s Augustinians must bear witness to this love. I notice every day that the majority of Christians do not believe in the presence of the Spirit of God in our hearts. Yet for Augustine this was a great discovery: recognizing God as love and recognizing the Holy Spirit in each one of us.

When did you meet your confrere Robert Prevost and what were your ties with him?

– We have known each other very well for a long time, precisely since he was in Rome as Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine from 2001 to 2013.

How did you react to his election as Pontiff?

– It was a surprise. At first I was somewhat perplexed because it is a great responsibility and it is difficult to imagine how such a mission can be fully carried out. But later I was very happy, knowing that he is a very serious and well-prepared person. His knowledge of Augustine always helped him and will certainly help him carry out his ministry. I also thought that his pontificate would be an opportunity to spread the fundamental values of Christian life in the Church and in the world.

Soon there will be the first anniversary of the election of Leo XIV. What “Augustinian traits” do you find in the Pope’s pontificate?

– The typical traits of Saint Augustine are the unity of the Church and charity. Augustine in the Church of his time worked to restore unity, because without it there can be no good Christian witness, always referring back to the apostolic community. Pope Leo has a delicate task in this time to reweave very different tendencies rooted over the years; in this, the intercession of our common Holy Father Augustine is certainly a great help. All of this is always founded on charity, because only from that root of love is true good born.

The Pope has decided this year to make two symbolic journeys: to Annaba in Algeria, not far from Tagaste (April 14), and to Pavia to visit the monastery of San Pietro in Ciel d’Oro (June 20). What significance do these two places have for Augustinians?

– Annaba is the place where Augustine lived his episcopal ministry and where he was able to express his thought. For the Pope it will be an opportunity to remember all of Augustine’s work for the Church. Meanwhile, in Pavia, with the presence of the relics, it symbolizes Augustine’s presence in today’s world.

Is the cult of Saint Augustine still alive?

– It is still very much alive. In Pavia many people always come to venerate the relics of Saint Augustine, but also to remember the Christian values that Augustine was able to express.

The interview was also published in Polish in the weekly “Niedziela”.