Fr. Kevin Storey CSB Reflects on Personal Encounter with Pope Leo XIV on CBC

When Father Kevin Storey, CSB, met with Cardinal Robert Prevost during a routine visit to the Vatican, he had no idea he was speaking with the future pope. The Superior General of the Congregation of St. Basil had travelled to Rome to raise a concern within the Church, expecting to meet with a administrative official. Instead, Cardinal Prevost personally entered the room, notebook in hand, ready to listen.

“I was surprised,” Storey said, recounting to CBC News how the Cardinal listened attentively and took notes for 45 minutes. “After taking all my concerns, he said, ‘I’ll get back to you in two months’—and he did. He resolved the issue.” That direct and personal involvement left a lasting impression on Father Storey, who recognized not only the new pope’s administrative involvement but also his humanity.

Fr. Kevin Storey, CSB, joined CBC to share his inspiring encounter with Pope Leo XIV—then just Cardinal Prevost. “We connected priest to priest,” he said, highlighting the new pope’s humility, warmth, and global vision

After their formal discussion, the two men discovered unexpected common ground: both had served as missionaries in Latin America—Prevost in Peru, Storey in Colombia—and both had led religious congregations. They shared stories about the joys and challenges of leadership, connecting as equals.

“He was far more significant than I am, we were just able to connected as a priest to another priest,” Storey noted, emphasizing how approachable and authentic the future pope was. He described him as hands-on, deeply pastoral, responsive, humorous, and humble. “I asked him if he was related to the PO bus company, and he joked, ‘I only wish our family had that kind of money.’”

Storey believes these same qualities—humanity, responsiveness, and global perspective—will now shape the new pope’s leadership. “I think the sense is that even though he was born in Chicago, speaks English, is that his ministry really thrived in Peru and so he brings that universal sense of the Church(…) He was kind of serving the universal Church as opposed to just serving the American Church.” he said, countering concerns about another major world leader hailing from the United States.

More than his origin, it is the pope’s grounding in Catholic social teaching that gives Storey hope. He described him as deeply connected to Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical that laid the foundation of modern Catholic social thought. “He will continue much of what Pope Francis has done,” Storey said, “but I hope he can be a unifier—in the Church and in the world.”

With so many forces today pulling communities apart, Father Storey hopes the new pope’s leadership will center on healing and togetherness. “If he can bring unity when there’s so much dividing us—sometimes on external factors—that would be my great hope for Pope Leo.”