Following its previous documentaries, \u201cLe\u00f3n de Per\u00fa<\/a>\u201d and \u201cLeo from Chicago<\/a>,\u201d\u00a0the documentary premiered July 1 on the Vatican News YouTube<\/a> channels in English, Italian, and Spanish.<\/p>\n The documentary covers the then-Father Robert Prevost\u2019s nearly two decades in the Eternal City. He first came to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas from 1981 to 1987, served as prior general of the Augustinians from 2001 to 2013, and led the Dicastery for Bishops from 2023 to 2025.<\/p>\n Prevost\u2019s trips and fun moments with Augustinians<\/p>\n Many of his former Augustinian confreres reminisce about their time with Prevost, particularly their trips with him throughout Italy. Father Giovanni Lenzi, OSA, speaking to Vatican News, reflected on those trips with fondness.<\/p>\n \u201cWe went on trips to various parts of Italy, both in Sicily and to the north, up in Trentino, but also to various places where our houses were located, our Augustinian houses in Liguria,\u201d Lenzi told Vatican News.<\/p>\n Prevost is also remembered for his lighthearted moments with his fellow Augustinians. Father Ciro Musiello, OSA, recalls a particular prank Prevost and others played on him.<\/p>\n \u201cOne time we were doing spiritual exercises with the Jesuit fathers. [Prevost and others] said to me, \u2018Here, we\u2019d like to offer you a candy.\u2019 So I thought it was candy, but instead it was a laxative tablet.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAs a result, while I was in the chapel, I had to run to the bathroom,\u201d Musiello recounted to Vatican News.<\/p>\n Serving as Augustinian prior general for 12 years required Prevost to travel frequently to meet other Augustinians worldwide. Father Miguel \u00c1ngel Mart\u00edn Ju\u00e1rez, OSA, expressed surprise that Prevost could do it all while based in Rome.<\/p>\n \u201cHe traveled. He had a provincial chapter in Australia, then on the way back, he would stop to visit a province, who knows which one.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThen he would arrive here [at the Augustinian General Curia in Rome] in the afternoon, maybe after the whole night on a plane. In the afternoon, he was already working in the office. It was tremendous physical and also mental endurance,\u201d Ju\u00e1rez told Vatican News.<\/p>\n Service in helping the pope select the world\u2019s bishops<\/p>\n Raised to the cardinalate by Pope Francis in 2023, Prevost returned to Rome that year after serving as a bishop in Peru to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. This was his most recent post before he was elected Pope Leo XIV in 2025.<\/p>\n![\"An](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/pope.leo_.ordination-1024x680.jpg\")
<\/a>An early photo of Robert Prevost from the Midwest Augustinian Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel. | Credit: Photo courtesy of the Midwest Augustinian Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel<\/p>\n
![\"Cardinal](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/italy\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/231025-synod-briefing-daniel-ibanez-7-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/a>Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost served as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops from 2023 to his election as Pope Leo XIV in 2025. | Credit: Daniel Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez\/EWTN News<\/p>\n