Father Prevost welcome guest in Bolivia

Prevost visited Bolivia several times and wore a poncho and ch'ullo.

The parish priest of the Gran Poder Church remembers him as a humble man. He danced morenada and tobas and enjoyed Bolivian food.

Robert Prevost, elected Pope Leo XIV this Thursday, visited Bolivia several times in his capacity as a representative of the Order of Saint Augustine and even wore the traditional poncho and ch'ullo.

This is how Father Saúl Mamani, parish priest of the Gran Poder Church, remembers him. He remembered Prevost as a humble man, always ready to help.

“The Pope was in Bolivia as general of the order, visiting communities in Bolivia in 2007 and 2008, and on several occasions he visited Cochabamba and La Paz. He is a simple, calm man, who listens, who is there to encourage you, to strengthen you; for me, he has always been that, helping us walk as Augustinians,” Mamani recalled on Unitel.

Mamani recounted that Prevost visited the country several times, one of which was in 2007, to the House of Formation in La Paz. At that time, the current Pope was general of the Augustinian Order.

At that time, Pope Leo XIV was working “to accompany the formation of students. The Latin American meetings we held, where we Augustinians from Latin America met to fellowship and, a little, to bring joint formation to the different countries.”

In this regard, the superior of the Augustinian Order in La Paz, Marcelo Ramírez, said that during his stay in La Paz, Prevost spent time with young priests and wore the poncho and ch'ullo they gave him.

He also visited the Convent of Santa Rita and the Church of Señor Jesús del Gran Poder, administered by the Augustinian Order.

"As Bolivians, we always tried to give him what was ours. Our clothing, from our land. We dressed him in the ch'ullo, the poncho, the sombrero, and the streamers that were part of the Carnivals we celebrated in our lands," confirmed Father Mamani.

He also recalled that they showed him Bolivian dances and that the now Pope even dared to dance to the rhythm of the morenada and the Tobas.

“He liked it. He didn't act like someone who didn't want to or didn't like being American. He danced as much as he could,” she said, noting that the Pope also enjoyed Bolivian food.

The Order of Saint Augustine is a mendicant religious order of the Catholic Church, founded in 1244 by Pope Innocent IV. This order, also known as the Augustinian Order, is characterized by its community life, its spirituality based on the teachings of Saint Augustine, and its service to the Church and the community.

The American-Peruvian Robert Francis Prevost Martínez was elected this Thursday as the new Pope under the name of Leo XIV.

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