Photo shows now Pope Leo XIV at Felt Estate

Image was taken in 2013 at seminary reunion.

The caption from 2013 Holland Sentinel reads: “Reunion organizer Gene Griffin, center, and the Rev. Bob Prevost, class of 1973, talk with graduates of St. Augustine Seminary High School on Saturday, Aug. 11, at the Felt Mansion. Prevost, in red jacket, is now prior general, the world leader of the Augustinians. Jim Hayden/Sentinel staff”

Robert F. Prevost, who is now known as Pope Leo XIV, attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Laketown Township at what is now the Felt Estate and Shore Acres Park. He returned in 2013 for the 40th anniversary of his graduation from the seminary.

He was photographed talking to fellow seminary graduates in the entrance at the Felt Mansion.

The caption from 2013 reads: “Reunion organizer Gene Griffin, center, and the Rev. Bob Prevost, class of 1973, talk with graduates of St. Augustine Seminary High School on Saturday, Aug. 11, at the Felt Mansion. Prevost, in red jacket, is now prior general, the world leader of the Augustinians. Jim Hayden/Sentinel staff”

Jim Hayden, then a Holland Sentinel staff member, is now the public information coordinator for Laketown Township.

“My beat was Allegan County and the lakeshore, and I always loved visiting the Felt Mansion,” said Hayden, whose reporting on the site started when it was a Michigan State Police Post and Saugatuck Dunes Correctional Facility.

“I’m glad we have a photo to keep as a visual record of Laketown Township’s link with spirituality and history,” Hayden said.

For more on the Laketown Township connection to the new Pope, click here.

For the official statement from the Felt Estate, visit here.

For a look at The Holland Sentinel reunion story, visit here.