A new documentary released by the Vatican on Pope Leo XIV’s early life is more than just a film about the new Pope’s life, says Vatican News journalist Salvatore Cernuzio, it is the story of an ordinary person who answered a calling to serve the Church. Source: OSV News.
Released on Monday, the documentary Leo from Chicago chronicles the Pope’s humble beginnings in Dolton, Illinois, as well as his early years as an Augustinian.
“A colleague told me, ‘It certainly seems like you have told the story of a saint’,” Cernuzio said yesterday.
“I believe it’s not a question of sainthood; it’s about a person who was born with a meek character. His charism is truly this meekness and, above all, how he developed these particular traits of dialogue, of friendship, of community.”
The film was produced by the Dicastery for Communication, along with the Archdiocese of Chicago and the Apostolado El Sembrador Nueva Evangelización (ESNE), a Spanish-language Catholic TV apostolate.
According to the Vatican, the documentary – which was produced by Cernuzio and fellow Vatican News journalists Deborah Castellano Lubov and Felipe Herrera-Espaliat – retraces “the story, family roots, studies, and Augustinian vocation of Robert Francis Prevost in his native United States”.
Available on the Vatican News’ YouTube channel, Leo from Chicago serves as a follow-up to León de Perú, which focused on “the future Pope’s missionary years in South America,” the Vatican said.
Cernuzio, who was also involved in the production of León de Perú, which was released in June, said the first documentary “went a bit into the heart of his ministry, but it was still the story of people who experienced a man who came from outside.”
However, “Leo from Chicago gathers testimonies from those who “experienced him at the same level: as a schoolmate, a student, a biological brother, and even a brother in the religious order who did his novitiate with him.”
“He is a Pope we know more about [now] compared to June, but we are still getting to know him, and whose characteristics and nuances of his personality we have not yet fully grasped,” Cernuzio said. “Leo from Chicago opens a window in this sense, meaning it helps to understand this man’s attitude in relationships, his goals, and his vocation.”
Cernuzio said he hoped that those who see the documentary will understand “the guiding threads of his personality and how he lives out his charisms and roles.”
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Leo from Chicago: Vatican releases new documentary on Pope’s early years (By Junno Arocho Esteves, OSV News)
