'I remember our priests saying that he liked sea food. So, they cooked sea food for him without masala and spice.'
'It seems he enjoyed Kerala food very much.'
It was Aluva in Kerala that celebrated the most when Cardinal Robert Prevost was chosen as the new Pope, Pope Leo XIV, on May 8, 2025.
As the Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine, Father Prevost had visited Aluva in 2004 and 2006.
He is the first Augustinian to be elected Pope.
Father Wilson Injarapu, Vicar Superior of the Vicariate of India and president of the Order of St Augustine in the Asia Pacific region, was a student at the seminary in Aluva then.
"'I still remember the two visits I had to Kerala,' he told us when we met him in February. 'I really loved the Aluva house. Wayanad also was very beautiful'," Father Injarapu tells Rediff's Shobha Warrier.
I had joined the seminary in Aluva early 2006 and in October 2006, we had a visit from the Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine along with Augustinians from the Asia-Pacific region.
The representatives of the Order of Saint Augustine from all over the world assemble in Rome every six years and elect our leader, the Prior General.
Father Robert Prevost was elected Prior General in 2001 and again in 2007. So, from 2001 to 2013, he was the Prior General of our Order.
We have Augustinians in 58 countries; we run communities, schools, churches, and universities in all 58 countries.
And as the head of the Augustinians, he has to visit all the countries to see our work.
As per our constitution, every Prior General has to visit all the countries at least once in his term. If he can't visit, he can send a delegate.
Father Prevost visited all the places where Augustinians were doing work.
Everybody says that is one of his qualities; that he saw to it that he personally visited all the Augustinian communities during his 12-year tenure. He also makes sure that he spoke to everybody.
As the Prior General, he twice visited India, in 2004 and then in 2006.
As I had joined the seminary in 2006, I met him then.
He was in Aluva for one week, and his stay was in our house on the banks of the Periyar river. This house is the head office of the Augustinians in India.
During his one week stay, he also traveled to Pollachi in Tamil Nadu to visit the school we run there, and also our church in Wayanad.
We were around 38 students in the seminary, and he came to the seminary to interact with us.
We had just joined the seminary and were not very fluent in English. I still remember he spoke to us very slowly so that we understood his questions. He asked us, 'How are you? Are you happy? Why do you want to be an Augustinian?'
I remember the excitement we had when he spoke to us. We also asked him how many countries he had visited, his impressions of those countries, how many languages he knows, etc. He was very enthusiastic in answering all our questions.
He told us what it was to be an Augustinian, and the work Augustinians do all over the world.
He also gave us an idea of what was expected from us as an Augustinian.
Whenever I got a chance, I used to ask him some question or the other, just to listen to him speak. I remember asking him whether he liked India.
'I came here in 2004 and this is my second visit. I love this place. It is so beautiful. I love watching the sun rise over the river. It is an unforgettable sight. I enjoy being in Kerala. I don't think I will ever forget my visits to Kerala,' he said.
When I met him in 2025, he fondly recalled his visit to Kerala, his stay on the banks of the Periyar, and watching the sun rise!
I remember our priests saying that he liked sea food. So, they cooked sea food for him without masala and spice.
It seems he enjoyed Kerala food very much.
I also remember them going from Aluva to Pollachi to visit the school. There was no good highway in those days. So, they had to travel 6-7 hours by road to reach Pollachi.
I was surprised to see him at the chapel the next morning to pray and conduct mass. He didn't look tired at all. In fact, he was full of energy.
About the trip to Wayanad, he said he felt so energetic once they reached the top of the hill as the scenery was so captivating.
Father Justin and I had gone to Rome in February to meet our present Prior General.
We had no idea whether we would meet Father Prevost there.
We were having lunch with our Prior General, and in walked in Cardinal Robert Prevost!
He came straight to our table. When we got up, he asked us to sit down and then asked me, 'Are you not the superior in India?'
He had seen my photos and the reports I had sent. I was surprised and touched that he recognised me.
He then sat at our table to have lunch with us. When the food came, he served us.
The practice is that the one who finishes first will take the plates of everybody and drop them at the work area.
When he finished lunch, Father Justin also had finished. Despite Father Justin's protests, he took Father Justin's plate along with his and walked to the work area.
Then he brought some fruits to the table.
Imagine he was a cardinal, but he was as simple as he was when I met him in Aluva in 2006. He had not changed a bit after all these years.
When he was amongst us, he was an Augustinian and what was important to him was the Augustinian brotherhood and not his position as cardinal.
While we were having lunch, he recalled his India visits. "I still remember the two visits I had to Kerala. I really loved the Aluva house. Wayanad also was very beautiful," he said.
He even remembered the long road trips to Pollachi and Wayanad!
Then he asked me whether I was in Aluva when he came. I told him that I was a student in 2006 and I had interacted with him.
He then enquired after India, the Fathers, the Augustinian communities, etc.
It was a blessing for all of us students to participate in the mass he conducted when he was in Kerala.
We could feel the deep Augustinian spirituality at all his masses. He spoke about Saint Augustine and how beautiful it is to live for the people as an Augustinian.
Living as an Augustinian is being one with every human being.
The spirituality of Augustinian is the spirituality of unity.
He always speaks about this oneness. This spirituality is reflected in all his words and actions.
He visited us as the global head of our congregation. But when we interacted with him as students, he never gave that vibe.
He was very simple, humble, friendly and loving to everybody.
Anyone could go and speak with him at any time. He was very approachable.
I would say he was an inspiration to every one of us.
As a student, I was so inspired by him that I wanted to be like him once I start working.
Right now, I am the head of the Augustinians in India and president of the Augustinians in the Asia Pacific region comprising Australia, Japan, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea and Indonesia.
What he has been doing all over the world as the Prior General, I am doing in India and the Asia-Pacific region. I visit these countries and see the kind of work Augustinians are doing there.
I have just returned from South Korea where they celebrated 40 years of the founding of the Augustinians there.
He and the current Prior General are great role models for us as both of them are very simple and humble human beings. They make it a point to speak to everybody with compassion.
We were all very surprised when the conclave elected him Pope.
After all, he became a cardinal only one-and-a-half years ago. And it was his first conclave. So, we didn't expect him to get elected Pope at all.
In his first address as Pope, he said, I am a son of Saint Augustine, and I am a proud Augustinian.
He became very emotional when he said those words and was almost in tears. All of us who heard him had tears in our eyes.
It was a very big moment for all of us Augustinians as it was for the first time that an Augustinian had become Pope.
The election of the new Prior General will happen in September. Augustinians from all over the world will assemble in Rome for 25 days.
As the representative from India and the Asia Pacific region, I will be attending the meeting.
Every time, we have this conclave, the Pope visits and meet us. Pope Leo XIV will surely meet us, not as an Augustinian but as the Pope. He will conduct a mass for us and meet every one of us.
I am sure since he is an Augustinian, he will spend more time with us.
I plan to tell him that you are famous in India because you visited us in Kerala.
Feature Presentation: Rajesh Alva/Rediff
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