the official website of the U.S. Department of Defense about Pope Leo XIV's father and his participation in World War II Photo: Defense Department

Pope Leo XIV attends surprise birthday party

Sunday’s lunch was not a grand public event, but it spoke volumes. In celebrating a birthday, the Pope celebrated also a brotherhood that has endured shifting vocations and distant geographies. It was a moment of joy, reflection, and quiet affirmation of the values that first brought them together: intellectual pursuit, spiritual depth, and a common life rooted in the Rule of St. Augustine — where no one seeks the truth alone, but leads others to it in unity and humility.