On May 18, the Order of St. Augustine published an interview with Monsignor Edgard Rimaycuna, the personal secretary of Pope Leo XIV, and it is unlike almost anything we have heard from inside the Vatican since the conclave. Quiet, precise, and deeply personal, Monsignor Rimaycuna’s words offer a glimpse of a pope who governs not through decree, but through listening, prayer, and an almost hidden tenderness. Here are five things we learned.
1. He prays the rosary every day
It sounds simple — but it is worth pausing on. In an age when devotional life is rarely discussed in concrete terms, Monsignor Rimaycuna was explicit: Leo XIV’s day includes Mass, the Liturgy of the Hours, and the rosary, every single day, without exception. This is not a pope who fits prayer around his schedule. Prayer is the schedule, around which everything else is arranged.
In fact, this is a lesson he got from his parents, who also prayed the rosary every day. Read about that here.
2. He lives in the constant presence of God
Monsignor Rimaycuna described Leo XIV as a man who “lives always in the constant presence of God” — a phrase rooted in the Augustinian spiritual tradition the Pope has inhabited for decades. Throughout the day, the Pontiff seeks silence and spends time in prayer before the Blessed Sacrament in the chapel. For Leo XIV, governing the universal Church and contemplating God are, it seems, the same act.
3. He never forgets your intentions
One of the most unexpected details in the interview is this: When someone confides a personal worry or asks the Pope for a prayer intention, he keeps it in mind. Not as a formality, but genuinely. According to the secretary, Leo XIV carries the concerns of those he meets long after the encounter is over. In a role that brings him into contact with hundreds of people each week, this is a remarkable thing to be said about anyone.
4. He does not make quick decisions
Leo XIV is not a man of impulse. Monsignor Rimaycuna was clear: the Pope thinks before he acts, listens to opposing views, and only decides once he has weighed what he has heard. He actively avoids confrontation and works, always, toward unity. This patience may explain something about his early pontificate — a style of leadership that has sometimes puzzled commentators looking for dramatic gestures, but which Monsignor Rimaycuna suggests is entirely deliberate.
5. War causes him real, personal suffering
Perhaps the most striking revelation in the entire interview is the most human one. Monsignor Rimaycuna said that the wars currently ravaging Ukraine and the Middle East cause Pope Leo XIV genuine personal anguish. “He suffers a lot because of all of this,” the secretary said plainly. It is no accident that the first words Leo XIV spoke to the world from the loggia of St. Peter’s were a call for peace. According to those closest to him, that call comes not from a diplomatic calculation, but from something that hurts.
