GEOFF BENNETT: Welcome to the "News Hour."

Pope Leo XIV celebrated his first mass less than 24 hours after being elected the leader of the Catholic Church.

He's not only the first pontiff from the U.S., but also the first Augustinian friar to lead the church's 1.4 billion members.

Pope Leo brings decades of international experience from serving as a missionary and bishop in Peru to a senior Vatican official in charge of overseeing bishops around the world.

That perspective shaped the tone he struck in today's homily.

POPE LEO XIV, Leader of Catholic Church: To the ministry of Peter, you have called me to carry that cross and to be blessed with that mission.

And I know I can rely on each and every one of you to walk with me as we continue, as a church, as a community of friends of Jesus as believers, to announce the good news, to announce the Gospel.

GEOFF BENNETT: To tell us more about what shaped Pope Leo's views and who he is, we're joined now by the Reverend Robert Hagan, prior provincial of the Augustinian Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and a longtime friend of the pope.

Thanks for being with us.

REV.

ROBERT HAGAN, Villanova University: My pleasure.

GEOFF BENNETT: You first met Pope Leo, as I understand it, when you were beginning your own journey as an Augustinian.

What were your first impressions of him back then?

REV.

ROBERT HAGAN: I did.

You don't have to be in his company very long before you come to realize he's incredibly bright.

He speaks multiple languages.

He's conversant on many different subjects.

He's a critical thinker.

He has a certain depth of spirituality.

And he's a very -- he expresses himself very -- with a lot of clarity and concise, intelligible, relatable ways.

And I knew him as kind of a new person in the order.

I was a transplant from the East Coast to the Midwest, where he served in his province of Our Mother of Good Counsel at the time in the Midwest.

He couldn't have been more welcoming.

He introduced me to other brother priests and people in Chicago that I wouldn't have known.

And so what I found was a very warm and approachable and hospitable person and also very bright and spiritual.

So it was not a surprise to me that other people would find him to possess the qualities for this kind of leadership.

But, still, we were shocked when he emerged from that balcony because you just never know what's going to happen and with the Holy Spirit in the conclave.

So we were flabbergasted by the choice and certainly so happy for the Augustinians, for our church and now for the world.

GEOFF BENNETT: Well, what does it mean for the church that Pope Leo comes from the Augustinian Order?

How might his approach or priorities differ from his Jesuit predecessor?

REV.

ROBERT HAGAN: It's a really good point.

We are trained in the foundation of Augustinian spirituality and theology.

Augustine was an incredible writer and preacher and rhetorician.

He -- a core value for St. Augustine was friendship.

He believed that we encounter and discover the presence of God in and through one another.

And so what you find in Pope Leo XIV, as smart as he is, he's also a very much a people person who is approachable, is warm and has a real passion for the plight of the poor.

As you know, he served for 10 years in our missions in Peru.

And so there's a certain love and empathy and compassion for the worker, for the laborer.

For Augustine, the heart has to engage the mind.

It's not enough just to know the law or to know your faith, but to put it into practice and let your love for God be expressed through your love for your fellow brothers and sisters.

So I think that's a foundation, a spirituality, a way of living as an Augustinian religious that he will just carry on now in his role as the Holy Father.

GEOFF BENNETT: Did he ever express to you any sense of calling or even ambition to one day be pope?

REV.

ROBERT HAGAN: No, he didn't.

I have said to myself and to some others, I don't think he aspired to be pope.

The core principle in the rule of St. Augustine is to love God with your whole heart, your whole mind and soul and to love your neighbor as yourself.

And I think that's simply what he was doing in his role, certainly in the U.S., but later on around the world.

He served as a general for our order.

He's been to many different countries.

He speaks multiple different languages.

He is not afraid to immerse himself in other cultures.

And so he has just, I think, followed his call to love God and neighbor, and it has led him to all these experiences that really prepared him now for this role, that we believe that the cardinals were in the conclave, but we also believe that that process was driven very much by the Holy Spirit.

And so, as people of faith, we believe that it was in fact the will of God that he now serve in this role.

GEOFF BENNETT: Finally, is there something that the world doesn't yet know about Pope Leo that might surprise or might reveal more about who he is that you can share?

REV.

ROBERT HAGAN: I think sometimes you see leaders and ministers with the garb and all the pomp and circumstance, and we almost treat them like they're not real people.

He's an incredibly engaging person.

He has a wonderful sense of humor.

He has a twinkle in his eye and an appreciation for a good story and tells a good story.

And so I think the humanity and the love to laugh I think will come through and people will see that in Pope Leo XIV.

GEOFF BENNETT: The Reverend Robert Hagan, thank you for your time this evening, sir.

We appreciate it.

REV.

ROBERT HAGAN: My pleasure.

Thank you.