Did you know Pope Leo XIV’s Journey Started at a Catholic School in Michigan?

West Michigan has a surprising connection to the newly named Pope Leo XIV, and it starts in a quiet corner of Allegan County along the lakeshore.

Before becoming the spiritual leader of more than a billion Catholics worldwide, Pope Leo XIV was Robert Francis Prevost, a Chicago native who spent part of his teenage years in a small Catholic seminary that is located right between Holland and Saugatuck.

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That seminary was Saint Augustine Seminary High School. It’s a prep school for aspiring priests that is operated by the Augustinian order and housed in the historic Felt Mansion in Laketown Township. At the time, the school was known for shaping young men with hopes of entering the priesthood.

It was a close-knit, faith-driven community, and it’s also exactly the kind of place where futures were quietly built away from the spotlight. Now, one of those students is stepping onto the world’s biggest Catholic stage.

According to reports, the newest pope graduated from the seminary back in 1973.

Local Catholic leaders are celebrating the news. Bishop Edward Lohse of the Diocese of Kalamazoo, who previously met Leo XIV during Vatican training, said it’s a moment of pride for West Michigan Catholics.

Both the Diocese of Grand Rapids and the Diocese of Kalamazoo are hosting special Thanksgiving Masses in honor of the Pope’s election.

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It’s not every day someone with ties to West Michigan ends up at the Vatican. But for those who knew Saint Augustine Seminary and it’s legacy, it’s not hard to believe something extraordinary could begin right here.