Mount Deacon Meets Pope Leo XIV

Jahari Miller and Luca Cangelosi

Deacon Rafael is a Deacon at Mount St Mary’s University. Rafael was privileged with the opportunity to serve at the Year of Jubilee pilgrimage in Rome this past August.

Catholic youth gathered by the millions to celebrate Christ and Jubilee answering Pope Francis’ call from 2013 to join him for the 2025 Jubilee of Youth Day. Deacon Rafael is with us now in Emmitsburg but his journey started far from here.

Rafael grew up in Brazil and dreamed of becoming a priest from a young age. At six he was encouraged by his grandmother and became an altar server at his local parish.

This is something that sparked Rafaels love for the Church. Through adolescence and high school he continued serving as an altar server. During high school there was a period when Deacon Rafael felt ashamed of his faith; he would avoid sharing his aspiration for the priesthood and would say he was considering journalism instead.

Despite this Rafael remained determined. Right after high school he entered seminary in Brazil where he studied for three years. During his time at seminary he received a proposal instructing him to serve in the United States—something that made him hesitate. He remembered struggling with English in grade school.

While discerning this he reflected on words from Pope Francis that he heard at World Youth Day in 2013. He stated, “Make disciples of all nations.” Motivated by this he traveled to Worcester, Massachusetts with little knowledge of English. Through attending many Masses he struggled to understand but was able to gradually learn the language.

This transition led him to serve in Rome at the 2025 Jubilee for Youth event. In the Catholic Church a Jubilee Year is a special year of grace and forgiveness usually celebrated every 25 years.

During a Jubilee year Catholics are invited to deepen their faith, go to confession, make pilgrimages and receive special indulgences. Deacon Raphael was urged to serve with Pope Leo XIV in the closing mass at the Year of the Jubilee pilgrimage in Rome by some of his friends.

This idea soon became a reality. The pilgrimage in Rome lasted around nine days which ended in a closing mass with over one million people in attendance. During a rehearsal for the closing mass Raphael met Pope Leo XIV for the first time. The Pope was very personal with Raphael asking him questions about himself and even making some jokes.

Pope Leo XIV even told Deacon Raphael that he would pray for him and gave him a rosary. Soon they were processing towards the altar to start the celebration of Mass.

This started an emotional rollercoaster of emotions as Raphael kissed the altar with the Pope. He describes thinking in that moment, “don’t cry, don’t cry.” It only got better from there when he heard his name through the speakers telling the audience who was serving mass alongside the Pope.

For Rapheal, this was “a confirmation of his vocation,” as he stated. During the mass Pope Leo XIV gave Raphael the sign