When Pope Leo XIV Visited Tamil Nadu's Pollachi In 2006

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Pope Leo XIV paid a visit to the Shenbagam Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore in 2006.
Pope Leo XIV, the head of the Roman Catholic Church, posed for a photograph outside the gate of a Pollachi-based school in Tamil Nadu's Coimbatore nearly 19 years ago.
At the time of his October 2006 visit to the Shenbagam Matriculation Higher Secondary School, Father Robert Francis Prevost was serving as the Prior General of the Order of Saint Augustine.
His image at the school in southern India has gone viral on social media and has also been shared by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Derek O'Brien on Instagram.
'The new Pope. 19 years ago in 2006, a 50-year-old priest, Fr Robert Prevost visited India. He was then the global head of the Order of St. Augustine," the TMC leader wrote.
He highlighted that the school was run by the 'Augustinian Fathers under the Diocese of Coimbatore".
O'Brien stated that there are a total of '2,800 Augustinian priests" working in 47 countries around the world. This mission started in India 450 years ago. This was the time when the first Portuguese missionaries landed in Goa, he added.
In today's times, it runs two schools and three parishes in the country.
As per reports, Father Prevost served as the Prior General of the Order between 2001 and 2013. He came to India twice in 2004 and 2006 during this period.
At the time, he met Augustinian communities in the states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. He went back to his Augustinian Province in Chicago in October 2013, serving across various roles, until getting appointed as Apostolic Administrator of the Peruvian Diocese of Chiclayo in November 2014 by Pope Francis, according to Vatican News.
Interestingly, Pope Leo XIV travelled from Kochi to Pollachi in a car, PTI quoted Father Wilson Injerappu, Order of Saint Augustine (OSA), regional Vicar of the Augustinian Order in India, as saying.
Calling him a humble person, Father Injerappu said that Father Prevost 'encouraged the students in the school" during his visit.
Father Binu Yesudasan shared that it was a proud moment for them to have Father Prevost visit the school.
As per the news agency, Father Prevost came to India at that time to participate in the Asia-Pacific meeting of the Order of St. Augustine in the neighbouring state of Kerala. During his visit, he decided to go to the school to have a look at the functioning of the newly taken-over institution.
The institution was established by a local businessman in 1995.
First Published:
May 10, 2025, 17:36 IST

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