News
San Agustín school prepares for a historic visit by Pope Leo XIV
San Agustín school is experiencing these days with a mixture of nerves, pride and excitement that is hard to hide. The forthcoming visit by Pope Leo XIV has taken the school out of its usual routine and turned playgrounds, corridors and family meetings into part of a preparation that many pupils already see as historic.
The expectation is special because the connection did not begin now. Before becoming Pontiff, Robert Prevost had already been to Madrid as prior general of the Augustinian order and left an impression on those who dealt with him then. His return, this time as pope, adds a very strong symbolic weight for an educational community linked to the Augustinian tradition for decades.
At the school, teachers and religious figures speak of him with closeness. Father Argimiro, who maintains a personal relationship with Leo XIV, highlights his ability to listen, his straightforward manner and the prudent way he makes decisions, which many recognise as one of his greatest qualities. For the school, the visit is experienced not only as an institutional act, but almost as the return of someone familiar.
Families have also become involved in the preparations. Several volunteer mothers are helping to organise the reception and attend to the teams that will take part in the day. The atmosphere is more reminiscent of a big neighbourhood celebration than a protocol event: calls, rehearsals, shifts, accreditations and a great desire for everything to go well.
The pupils, meanwhile, experience the wait with rather direct excitement. Some say they want the Pope to “feel at home”; others simply understand that they are going to witness something unlikely to happen again during their school years. Classes continue as usual, but with a different feeling in the air.
The visit also affects the pulse of Chamartín. The school is located beside the Santiago Bernabéu, in an area used to major events, matches and special arrangements. Even so, the arrival of a pope brings another kind of emotion: less connected with spectacle and more with memory, community and the school’s identity.
With nearly seven decades of history, San Agustín is part of the educational landscape of northern Madrid. Many generations have passed through its classrooms and many families remain connected to the school years after completing their studies. That is why the arrival of Leo XIV will not merely be a religious visit: it will be one of those days the school keeps as part of its own history.