A story of friendship involving the first pope from the United States
(Editor’s note: This story is a shortened version of the original one that appeared in The Criterion on May 16, 2025. Read it here)
By John Shaughnessy
The friendship of Bill Bickel and the man who will forever be known as Pope Leo XIV started with a shared dream to serve God and his people 47 years ago. As a young man, Robert Prevost not only embraced that dream, he served as a role model for Bickel and many other young men who aspired to live that same dream.
Seven years older, Prevost was already deep in his formation as an Augustinian priest in 1979—the year Bickel was a high school senior who was exploring his own desire to be an Augustinian. He and two other young men joined Prevost on a road trip from Chicago to Villanova University near Philadelphia to learn more about the Augustinian path to the priesthood.
During that road trip, Bickel and Prevost, two sons of the Midwest from strong Catholic families—Bickel from South Bend, Ind., Prevost from Chicago—talked about the order’s foreign missionary program as Bickel had an interest in serving in Peru after earlier spending three weeks in the missions in that South American country.
That road trip gave Bickel a glimpse into the heart and soul of the future pope, the first pope from the United States.
“Living under the Augustinian rule as a community—‘one mind, one heart’—he sees the global community in that way,” Bickel noted in 2025 when his friend was elected pope. “It’s innately in him. So is the idea that we need to bear and support our brothers’ and sisters’ burdens. He has an immense love for the poor.”
Their shared love for the poor developed during the roughly 18 months of serving together in Peru in the late 1980s. Among the few American Augustinians from the Chicago Province serving in the Peruvian missions at the time, they connected and shared stories, challenges and hopes at meetings of members of their order.
Still, it was a private meeting with his friend that Bickel will never forget.
Bickel shared his heart with his friend about a soul-searching choice he had to make. Working in the missions, Bickel became attracted to a Peruvian woman who did similar mission work.
“He gave me the advice that set the trajectory of my life,” Bickel said. “He literally counseled me as a brother.”
His friend told him to take his time to distinguish where God was leading him.
Bickel chose Flor as the path to his future. And while the paths of the two men have diverged since then, their mutual commitment to the vulnerable and to their friendship continues 47 years later.
Married to Flor for more than three decades, Bickel has served the archdiocese for the past 31 years as a leading advocate for the homeless in central and southern Indiana. He has led the growth of the archdiocese’s commitment to homeless families, not only giving them a place to live in times of desperation, but also guiding staff members in helping the parents of these families find jobs and housing.
Pope Leo’s commitment to the poor has been one of the hallmarks of his papacy. His continuing bond with friends is a hallmark of his life. The two men stay in touch through personal e-mails.
Lives change. Still, a friendship lasts. †
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