“He would process a lot of information.” Rev. Robert Hagan, chaplain of Villanova’s men’s basketball and football programs, met Prevost in 1997 and was immediately impressed.

Donohue said the pope is a Villanova basketball fan. And Donohue has taken note that whenever he or the university send out messages, they can check who opens them, and the pope does every time.

"Villanova sacrificed three basketball seasons for this moment," said another. New York Knicks fans, meanwhile, are taking the appointment as a sign from the heavens.

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — When Villanova University’s president, the Rev. Peter Donohue, was nearing graduation as a theatre student, a future pope wasn’t far away on campus, studying math … ...

Even while ministering in faraway Peru, Robert Francis Prevost kept up with his alma mater, Villanova University, a Catholic college of approximately 10,000 outside Philadelphia known for its ...

The Villanova University community erupted in celebration after one of its own, Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, was elected Pope Leo XIV —the first American and first Augustinian friar to lead ...

Donohue said the pope is a Villanova basketball fan. And Donohue has taken note that whenever he or the university send out messages, they can check who opens them, and the pope does every time.

VILLANOVA, Pa. (AP) — When Villanova University’s president, the Rev. Peter Donohue, was nearing graduation as a theatre student, a future pope wasn’t far away on campus, studying math … ...

When Villanova University's president, the Rev. Peter Donohue, was nearing graduation as a theatre student, a future pope wasn't far away on campus, studying math two grades below him. On Thursday ...