Brennan Crow ‘26 (Archdiocese of St. Paul & Minneapolis) was studying alongside 10 other SJV seminarians in the Eternal City at the time of Cardinal Prevost’s visit to the Irish College in November 2024. In his own words:
After waking up to a very abundant day, my brother seminarians and I were unaware of how impactful the night of November 13 would be on our lives. Wednesdays were typically the day where priests and students of the Irish College gathered for Mass, dinner, and a talk with a special guest. At the time, we had never heard of Cardinal Prevost. He was a very young cardinal, the newly appointed head of the Dicastery of Bishops. We were mostly just thrilled to have a speaker talk to us about a fascinating subject in our own midwestern accent.
I remember distinctly having to remind myself on several occasions, both within his thorough question-and-response session as well as the brief interactions I had with him at dinner, that this man was a cardinal. His demeanor to us was just so humble and ordinary. Cardinal Prevost spoke to us eye to eye and went far beyond the scheduled time frame to quench the curious questions we continued offering him. His description of the process of appointing bishops, his repeated emphasis on how much he relies so practically on the Holy Spirit, and his continued message of hope and unity were all painted in a powerful new light on May 8.
When Pope Leo XIV walked out on the loggia that Thursday morning, seeing a man I had talked to and shook hands with, and a man who grew up in a similar culture and experience to me, was (and still is) surreal. Witnessing his humility back in November but now on full display before the whole world filled me and my brothers with such hope. In a time when our Church needs so desperately Christ’s unitive voice, an apostle of unity calling out “Peace be with you!” from a familiar face seemed to be Our Lord’s own voice calling, “I am with you always.”
This article was originally published in the fall 2025 Vianney News magazine. Read more.