In two encounters with Bishop Robert F. Prevost, Father Jeremy P. Hiers was struck by the future pope’s humility and kindness.
“He walked up to me, shook my hand and introduced himself as Bob,” said Father Hiers, of the 2017 meeting in Chicago. “As a fellow brother of the order, he got to know my story. He talked to me like I was a fellow human being.”
Father Hiers, 44, who is the director of the Augustinian order’s Office of Peace and Justice in South Philadelphia, then met Bishop Prevost at the Vatican in July 2024. “He had just become a cardinal at that point, and after saying Mass in the Vatican, he came up and introduced himself. We had a discussion with him and then we had dinner later that night. He was just amazing. He is a man who will read the room, and he will interact with every person.”
Father Hiers became Catholic in 2009 while attending Nativity Catholic Church in Burke. He entered the Augustinian order in 2015 and was ordained a priest in 2021. He said that the key to knowing Pope Leo XIV is in understanding Augustinian spirituality.
“We believe in discovering God through others,” said Father Hiers. “That’s the very basics. I believe this pope will say, ‘I need to listen to everybody. I need to hear their voices because that’s how I’m going to hear God.’ And that’s very much what he’s demonstrated throughout his life. In my short interactions with him, getting to know my story as a lowly Augustinian seminarian, he’s just a man who listens.”
As the leader of the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics in a time of conflict, Father Hiers is confident that Pope Leo XIV’s rise to the papacy was inspired by the Holy Spirit. He echoed a theme that has consistently emerged early in his pontificate: bridge builder.
“He’s going to encourage us to continue to dialogue on the tough issues of our day and not cancel each other out,” he said. “I truly believe that because that’s the Augustinian way. He truly, truly gets what it means to be an Augustinian and to minister to the poor because Augustine rarely ever had a homily where he did not quote something about responsibility to those who are without.”
Now in the worldwide spotlight, the Augustinian order is being inundated with inquiries about vocations. “We had 100-plus discerners reach out to us this weekend,” said Father Hiers, who plans to attend a day at the Quo Vadis camp for boys in grades 9-12 at Mt. St. Mary’s Seminary in Emmitsburg, Md. July 13-17.
The election of Pope Leo XIV was not a complete shock to Father Hiers and his fellow Augustinians. “We had suspected that it could be him since he was a cardinal, and he was well known as a good man. But all of us knew it may not happen just because he’s American. Then when we heard his name, everybody just jumped and clapped and laughed.”
And there was one more clue that Father Hiers was holding deep in his heart. “In the couple of weeks leading up to his election, I actually had dreams or visions of him walking out on the balcony,” he said. “I could see it because he looks like a pope, and he acts like one. He just listens to people. And I think the voice of God speaks through all of us.”
