I will watch what Pope Leo XIV does with great interest — and not simply because I work at Villanova

The bells of St. Thomas of Villanova Church first rang at the sight of white smoke from the Sistine Chapel early Thursday afternoon, informing the world that a pope had been elected. For several hours after the announcement, they rang in prayerful celebration that Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost — a graduate of Villanova — has become His Holiness Pope Leo XIV.

The new pontiff’s election is extraordinary in many ways.

Originally from Chicago, he is the first pope born in the United States. As a member of the Order of St. Augustine, he is the first Augustinian pope. He is the second pontiff in a row to hail from the Americas, something that would have been difficult to fathom not long ago.

In the course of his ministry, the new pope spent decades in Peru as a missionary and bishop. He was twice elected as the prior general of the Order of St. Augustine, thus serving as the global leader of his order for 12 years.

Pope Leo XIV is truly a man of the world, and comes to his new position as someone who can elevate the catholicity, or universality, of the Roman Catholic Church.

With the selection of his name, Pope Leo XIV has reached back to Leo XIII, who laid the foundation for modern Catholic social teaching with the 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum, a document that focused on labor, capital, and human dignity.

During a period of global upheaval, modern Catholic social teaching developed at the end of the 19th century as a response to the Industrial Revolution. In the more than 130 years since, Catholic social teaching, with its principles of human dignity, solidarity, the common good, and subsidiarity, is how the church has engaged — through official teachings and scholarship — with social issues of the day.

In the coming weeks, months, and years, I will watch what Pope Leo XIV says and does with great interest.

In more practical terms, the name Pope Leo XIV chose invites us to think about the needs of the poor and vulnerable, the needs of the planet, and the need to listen to and accompany others. We live in another time of upheaval in which the world hungers for leadership that focuses on these issues.

The election of Pope Leo XIV is a very special moment for the Philadelphia area because of his connections to Villanova — a Catholic, Augustinian institution. He received his bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the university in 1977 and received an honorary doctorate in humanities, honoris causa, from Villanova in 2014.

Villanova’s motto is “Veritas, Unitas, Caritas,” or Truth, Unity, Love. The pope’s first public remarks reflected these values.

From the Vatican balcony overlooking St. Peter’s Square, Leo XIV opened with the greeting, “Peace be with all of you,” and directed his message to the entire world. His message was one of love, unity among all people, and accompaniment. Calling himself “a son of St. Augustine,” Pope Leo XIV invoked a sense of community — with those present in St. Peter’s Square, with his Diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, and with the entire world. Community is a hallmark of the Augustinians — and of Villanova. With this initial speech, he conveyed those core values.

In the coming weeks, months, and years, I will watch what Pope Leo XIV says and does with great interest — and not simply because I work at Villanova.

Rather, I will do so because I have spent decades studying systemic racism in the Roman Catholic Church in the United States. Because of my vested interest, I want to see how his background as a missionary who worked with the poor and marginalized, a bishop who was responsible for shepherding his local church, and a prior general responsible for leading a global religious order comes to fruition in his pontificate.

It is not fair to expect Pope Leo XIV to be a carbon copy of Pope Francis, or any other previous pope. I wait to see which of the many challenges facing the church and the world Pope Leo XIV will prioritize.

In his first remarks, he emphasized the need for a synodal church. What this will mean for laypeople, women, migrants, and those impacted by systemic racism — all themes of the recent Synod on Synodality — remains to be seen.

The bells in St. Peter’s Square, St. Thomas of Villanova Church, and elsewhere around the world have stopped ringing, and now the work begins.

Tia Noelle Pratt is assistant vice president, director of mission engagement and strategic initiatives, and editor of the Journal of Catholic Social Thought in the Office for Mission and Ministry at Villanova University. Her first book, “Black and Catholic: Racism, Identity, and Religion,” will be published in September by the University of Notre Dame Press.