Not many people can say they’ve been the pope’s boss.
But Bishop Daniel Turley can.
Bishop Turley, 82, a member of the Order of St. Augustine, served the Catholic Church in Peru for 52 years until his retirement in 2020. For 25 of those years, he was the Bishop of the Diocese of Chulucanas.
In 1985, the Augustinians sent a young priest to Chulucanas to cut his teeth as a missionary under the oversight of Bishop Turley, who was a leader for his order there and not yet a bishop.
The new missionary then known as Fr. Robert Francis Prevost is of course now known as Pope Leo XIV.
“I can say I was the superior of the pope,” Bishop Turley said June 26 during a visit to the Basilica of St. Josaphat, Milwaukee. “But I have to be careful, because now he’s my superior.”
Bishop Turley, who in retirement lives in his hometown of Chicago, came to the Basilica at the invitation of his friend, its Rector and Pastor Fr. Bob Cook, O.F.M. Conv.
Bishop Turley presided over a Mass of Thanksgiving for Pope Leo XIV, first blessing the official portrait of the pope that will now hang in the rear right side of the nave.
After Mass, Bishop Turley took questions from an enthralled audience who gathered in the Basilica’s lower level hoping to hear personal anecdotes about the Chicago native who now leads the Catholic Church.
The version of Pope Leo introduced to them through Bishop Turley’s description is a man whose entire life centers on Christ, and whose spiritual journey has been guided, said his old friend, “by God’s hand.” The Pope Leo that Bishop Turley shared with his audience is a faithful friend who listens well, who is joyful, contemplative and who “knows the problems of the world.”
So when Bishop Turley was gathered with the Augustinian pre-novices at the St. Clare of Montefalco Friary in Chicago on Thursday, May 8, and he saw Robert Francis Prevost emerge on the balcony as the new pontiff, he was “surprised, but not shocked.”
“He is just very well-prepared for this work that God has given him,” said Bishop Turley, adding that “we are on cloud nine,” referring to his fellow Augustinians.
“We are very proud of our brother, and we are praying for him … he truly is a wonderful Augustinian.”
Over the course of more than 45 minutes that evening, Bishop Turley answered questions, shared memories and insights, and painted a fuller and more intimate portrait of the new leader of the Catholic Church.
Here are just a few glimpses into the personality of Pope Leo XIV, taken from the remarks of Bishop Turley on June 26.
Pope Leo isn’t too busy to answer messages from an old friend.
Bishop Turley first met Robert Prevost when the latter was 18 years old, just beginning his formation as an Augustinian. It was several years before they worked together again in Chulucanas, but “Fr. Roberto” became a dear friend and trusted colleague of Bishop Turley’s. Bishop Turley was unable to attend Pope Leo’s inauguration due to commitments in his role overseeing pre-novices for the order, but he told the audience he has been in touch with the Holy Father since his election, communicating several messages of support.
“And he does answer, even though he’s extremely busy,” Bishop Turley said.
His late father was a beloved presence in Peru.
Then-Fr. Prevost’s father Louis, a former high school principal, would visit his son in Peru following the death of Louis’ wife, Mildred Martinez Prevost, in 1990. Fr. Prevost was, at the time, living in Trujillo and working as the director of the joint formation project for Augustinian candidates from the vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurimac.
Louis Prevost was “a joyful man…a good man,” said Bishop Turley, and in fact he spent a good deal of money to purchase a pickup truck for the Augustinians and have it shipped down to Peru.
“(Louis) would come at least one month every year, and I think on one occasion, he stayed two or three months. And he was so happy to visit his son and to visit the young Augustinians,” recalled Bishop Turley. “And his Spanish was not very good, but he began to understand them, and they understood him. And he just felt very loved by the young Peruvian seminarians, and they loved him.”
He would give someone the clothes off his back — and more.
When asked for favorite memories of Pope Leo, Bishop Turley shared a story of a time when he was visiting his friend and was unable to answer his question about what time it was.
“I said, ‘(My watch) is broken. I don’t have a watch.’ He said, ‘You do, too.’” Fr. Prevost then took the watch off of his wrist and gave it to Bishop Turley, who keeps it to this day.
“I think — I don’t know (for certain), I’ll have to ask him because I was afraid to ask him — I think it’s his father’s watch,” said Bishop Turley. “I don’t use it — I have it like a relic.”
Another poignant memory of their friendship was from Bishop Turley’s consecration as Bishop of Chulucanas in 1996. That day, he was in a haze, walking across the main square in Chulucanas toward the Cathedral of the Sagrada Familia, awaiting this momentous occasion.
“I didn’t know where I was going. I was floating on the ground,” said Bishop Turley. “And who is walking on my side is Fr. Robert Prevost. He was right there at my side.”
His interior life is important to him.
“He’s a man of prayer,” said Bishop Turley of Pope Leo. “He likes silence. He likes time for himself. He likes to go be with people in community, and talking and sharing, but there always is a time when he wants just to be quiet, with his door shut and locked, and he wants to be at peace and he wants to pray and to think and ask, what is God asking of him?”
The Most Rev. Daniel Turley, Bishop Emeritus of the Diocese of Chulucanas in Peru, answers questions and shares insights about his friend and fellow Augustinian Pope Leo XIV at the Basilica of St. Josaphat, Milwaukee. (Photo by Colleen Jurkiewicz)
