Newly-elected Pope Leo XIV recently held his first Mass in the Sistine Chapel, but this was not his first foray around Rome.
In fact, it was a South Philadelphia priest who first introduced the new pope to the city decades ago, writes Joe Brandt for CBS News Philadelphia.
Rev. Paul Galetto, pastor at St. Paul Parish in South Philly’s Italian Market, once lived in Rome alongside Pope Leo XIV — born Robert Prevost — at the Collegio Internazionale di Santa Monica.
The two initially met in St. Louis in 1976 before later reuniting in Rome when Prevost was a student at the Angelicum and Galetto was at the Pontifical Gregorian University.
Galetto added that Prevost was finishing up at Villanova prior to arriving to St. Louis while he was on his way.
Both are now experiencing a bit of a full-circle moment.
“It’s tough to think that a friend of yours is the pope,” said Rev. Galetto. “Bob, he’s just a great guy. And it makes me happy to know that a person who has lived a good life, is a prayerful person, considerate, nice — it’s the kind of person you want leading our church and being a leader in the world.”
The two could reunite soon as Galetto may be planning a fall trip to Rome.
Read more about a South Philly priest’s friendship with the new pope at CBS News Philadelphia.
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