The historic and prophetic photo: Francis and Leo XIV together in a church in Recoleta 20 years ago

The election of the new Pope, Leo XIV , shocked the Catholic world, but for the Augustinian community of Buenos Aires it had an even more personal and profound impact. In the hours following the official announcement from the Vatican , a photograph began to circulate that, over time, would become prophetic: it shows the newly elected pontiff, Robert Francis Prevost, celebrating Mass alongside the then Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who would later become Pope Francis . The image was taken on August 28, 2004, at the San Agustín parish, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Recoleta , during an intimate celebration for St. Augustine's Day.

The historical value of the image was not immediate. For years, it went unnoticed by those who attended that Mass or were part of parish life. But after the death of Francis and the election of Prevost as his successor, the scene regained life and emotion. "This photo may be from 2004, when Bergoglio met with Cipriano and Prevost. I didn't know it, but it's in this church," Father Pablo Hernando Moreno, an Augustinian priest and expert on the parish's history, told La Nación.

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The image depicts three figures: Father Cipriano—director of the Augustinian college at the time— Jorge Bergoglio in the center, and Robert Prevost on the right, who in 2004 was the Superior General of the Order of Saint Augustine based in Rome. The altar covered with a golden cloth, glittering chalices, and an arrangement of flowers in front of the altarpiece complete the scene, framed by the Gothic architecture of the church. Today, this image takes on a unique meaning : it shows the unexpected crossroads between two future Popes.

“ Here we have two popes and one bishop. Well, two bishops and two popes,” Father Juan Antonio Gil, another Augustinian close to the community, commented with a laugh . Gil also knew Prevost personally. “He was the president of the order's general congress in 2001, and I was the secretary. We worked together. We later crossed paths again in Spain for a missionary project in Mozambique. He's a man of concern. He builds bridges. As he told us yesterday, he's a missionary at heart,” he added.

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The Mass on August 28 was intimate but meaningful. “The parish was full; it was the feast day of our patron saint, Saint Augustine. No one imagined that two future pontiffs would be in that photo,” Gil noted. The bond between the Argentine Augustinians and Prevost did not end with that visit. In 2013, when Augustinian and former student Alberto Bochatey was ordained bishop in La Plata, Prevost traveled especially to attend as superior general.

After the sudden death of Francis and the election of the new Pope, the 2004 image took on another dimension. “It’s a simple photograph, but now it’s a unique testimony. You look at it and it moves you,” said Father Moreno, visibly moved . For the faithful of St. Augustine, the memory of that celebration took on new meaning. “History is woven of moments like these. Encounters that seemed fleeting and suddenly turn out to be prophetic,” reflected Father Gil. He concluded: “ That 2004 Mass was a point of connection. Today we understand that in that photo, without knowing it, were the Pope who was leaving and the one who was arriving.”