Teachers often reflect on standout students – the brilliant minds, the star athletes, the unforgettable personalities. But very few can say one of their former students became pope.
Sue Strom can.
For three years, Strom taught French to a young Robert Francis Prevost – now Pope Leo XIV – at St. Augustine Seminary High School, then an Augustinian boarding school in Holland, Mich.
Even as a teenager, Prevost’s potential was unmistakable.
He was “extraordinarily intelligent” and a “very strong student,” said Strom, a parishioner of the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley and a board member of the Women’s Education Alliance.
“You could see his intelligence,” she said, recalling how the future pope absorbed everything she taught. “It was as if he were saying, ‘I’ve got that. Give me more.’”
Sue Strom, a parishioner of the Catholic Community of St. Francis Xavier in Hunt Valley, sits in her dining room as she contiues her studies in French language and culture. She recalls how bright Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was when she taught him French at St. Augustine Seminary High School. Once the attention surrounding Pope Leo settles following his election, Strom hopes to reach him directly by letter. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)
Strom and Prevost arrived at the seminary in the fall of 1969. She was breaking new ground as the first woman to teach at a minor Augustinian seminary. He was beginning four formative years of study – three of which were under her instruction.
The transition to teaching all boys from her previous role at an all-girls school in Niagara Falls, N.Y., was daunting at first.
“I came in cold,” she said. “But I probably did better because of it.”
While he was friendly with all his classmates, Prevost was also reserved. But he wasn’t shy, she said. He stood out not only for his intellect, but for his character. Friendly and respected by his peers, he was also thoughtful and composed.
“He was friends with all the boys,” Strom said. “They were all full of life, and some were very outgoing. … There was religious education and time for contemplation, but they were also having a good time.”
Strom said she tried to help young students learn that “gentle” can go with “man.” And considering some of their antics (after all, they were teenage boys), “I wanted them and other people to understand they could be a gentleman as well as a man.”
Strom was stupefied to find out her former student had been elected pope. She was in her car when word of the new pope was announced.
“My one granddaughter texted me,” she said. They said he was an Augustinian, and she thought, “I like Augustinians.” And then they said he was out of Chicago, and she thought: “They were all out of Chicago. Very interesting.”
And then it hit her. As she started reading about the new pope, Strom said, “No, no! I taught him, and I know exactly where he sat!”
She sees a bright future for Pope Leo XIV.
“When I read his résumé, I was pleased to see how much he’s accomplished in such a short time,” she said. “He was head of the Augustinians twice, did missionary work in Peru, and worked in the Vatican. For me those are his strengths.”
“It seems like he has a strong relationship with God, but he’s also a man grounded in the world,” said Strom, whose late husband Len Strom served the Archdiocese of Baltimore as executive director of human resources for eight years. “He brings more experience than any pope we’ve ever had because his background is so varied.”
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