Filipino recalls chance encounter with newly elected Pope Leo XIV in 2010
A BLESSED ENCOUNTER. Young Carlo Olayta took a photo in 2010 with Rev. Fr. Robert Prevost, who was then the prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, at a monastery in Bulacan. PHOTO COURTESY OF CARLO OLAYTA
MANILA, Philippines—A 19-year-old in 2010, Carlo Olayta never thought he would have the chance to meet someone who will one day become the 267th Pope of the Catholic Church.
Olayta told INQUIRER.net that 15 years ago, he was invited to the solemn profession of vows of Sr. Agnes Park of the Order of Saint Augustine (OSA). There he met someone—the order’s prior general.
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It was then Rev. Fr. Robert Prevost, OSA, who, on May 8 (Rome Time) was elected as the new leader of over one billion Roman Catholics all over the world, succeeding Pope Francis who died last month.
But as pointed out by Olayta, he did not know that Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was there, as well. “I think he was the one who delivered the sermon, while the main celebrant was the late Malolos Bishop Jose Oliveros.”
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FILIPINOS WITH POPE LEO XIV. Fifteen years ago, some Filipinos took the chance to have a photo with Rev. Fr. Robert Prevost, who was then the prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine, on the celebration of the solemn profession of vows of Sr. Agnes Park, OSA in 2010. PHOTO COURTESY OF CARLO OLAYTA
“I did not know that there was an event [other than Sr. Agnes Park’s religious profession],” he said while stressing that he did not have an idea that the prior general of the OSA was at the Augustinian Monastery of Mother of Good Counsel in Bulacan.
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So as he saw Prevost, he took the chance to have a picture with him. “We were able to meet him,” Olayta said. He shared that the Augustinian friar, who was elevated as cardinal in 2023 was “low-key,” or someone who was not attracting a lot of attention.
Over a decade later, Olayta looked for the photo, even in the middle of the night, as Prevost, now 69 years old, greeted thousands of people at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City as the new pope after the conclave that started on May 7 (Rome Time).
“Never in my wildest dreams did I think of having the chance to meet the man who will one day sit on the Chair of Saint Peter,” Olayta, who is now 33 years old, said on Facebook as he shared his photo with the new pope.
