Fri May 09 12:12:50 UTC 2025: ## Humble Beginnings: Newly Elected Pope Leo XIV’s Unassuming Visit to Indian School Remembered
**COIMBATORE, INDIA – May 9, 2025** – A photograph has resurfaced, revealing a previously unassuming visit by the newly elected Pope Leo XIV to a small school in Pollachi, Tamil Nadu, India, in 2006. Then known as Father Robert Francis Prevost, the future Pope, served as the Prior General of the Order of St. Augustine. His visit, part of a trip that included the Asia-Pacific Meeting of the Order in Aluva, Kerala, saw him spend two days at Shenbagam Matriculation Higher Secondary School.
The school, which was recently under the Augustinian Fathers’ management at the time, had less than 500 students. Father Prevost interacted with staff and students, posing for a photograph now cherished by the school community. Father Sumesh Joseph Illikkaparambil, the school’s current correspondent, who was a young brother during the visit, recalls the event vividly. He described the then-Prior General as approachable and engaged.
The school has since grown significantly, now boasting nearly 1,400 students and over 100 staff. Father Illikkaparambil stated that they plan to create a memorial to commemorate Pope Leo XIV’s visit, a quiet moment in the past now imbued with immense historical significance. The photograph serves as a poignant reminder of the Pope’s humble beginnings before his ascension to the papacy.
First Piper 