From St. Peter’s to the Hill: Reflections from Rome

Peace Be With You All

Contributed by: Marc M. Camille, Ed.D., President of Albertus Magnus College

There are moments in life when time seems to pause, moments you know even as they are unfolding that you will never forget. For me, two such moments occurred a little more than a year apart, connected by the same words.

On May 8, 2025, we were hosting at Albertus one of our biannual Interfaith Clergy Gatherings, through the College’s Meister Eckhart Center for Catholic and Dominican Life. On that day we had with us faith leaders representing Catholic, Baptist, Episcopal, Judaism, and Islam traditions. As we engaged in conversation, coverage of the Papal Conclave played silently in the background, all of us awaiting its conclusion.

Then came the white smoke.

Together, representing different faith traditions, we watched as Cardinal Robert Prevost was introduced to the world as Pope Leo XIV and appeared on the central balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. His first words were simple and profound:

“Peace be with you all.”

I remember being deeply moved by those words—and by the remarkable circumstances in which I first heard them, surrounded at Albertus by people of different faiths, coming together, committed to dialogue, understanding, and community. And together we received a message of peace from the new Pope.

Thirteen months later, on a rainy Wednesday morning in Rome, those words became personal in a way I never could have imagined.

On June 3, 2026, our Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities delegation was privileged to have a private audience with Pope Leo at the Vatican. As he began, the Holy Father greeted us: “Peace be with you.”

To be there representing Albertus Magnus College during our Centennial Anniversary Year—and ultimately to have the opportunity to personally greet Pope Leo—was an extraordinary and humbling honor.

But what has stayed with me most is not simply that we met the Pope. It is what he entrusted to us.

In his message that morning, Pope Leo expressed his hope that our experience “in the heart of the Church” would strengthen our faith and renew our commitment to the Church’s universal mission. Then, speaking specifically to us as educators, he prayed that our hearts would become increasingly captivated by “the beauty of truth and the grandeur of humanity.”

Those words resonated deeply. Veritas. The beauty of truth. The grandeur and dignity of every human person. In many ways, I heard in Pope Leo’s words the very aspirations and commitments at the heart of an Albertus education.

He challenged Catholic colleges and universities to help students move beyond simply acquiring information or preparing for careers, so that they also “learn to seek and love the truth, to reflect on the meaning of life and to recognize the dignity of every person.” He also called upon us to engage emerging technologies positively while ensuring that students continue developing their distinctly human capacities to reason, think critically, and responsibly shape the world to come.

Then, before departing, Pope Leo offered his Apostolic Blessing and explicitly extended it beyond those gathered in the room—to the people, communities, and institutions we represented.

Pope Leo blessed Albertus and its community members.

During our audience, each of us was given the extraordinary opportunity to personally greet the Holy Father. In all candor, I had thought a lot about what I might say if the opportunity to meet the Holy Father actually occurred, and I was so nervous to find the right words, to represent not just myself but Albertus. When my turn came, I eagerly extended my hand to meet Pope Leo’s outstretched hand and offered the words that had stayed with me since the moment I first heard them more than a year earlier at Albertus:

“Peace be with you, Holy Father.”

In that brief exchange, the words somehow felt as though they had come full circle.

Becky and I desperately wanted to be able to share something from that extraordinary experience with our Albertus faculty and staff colleagues. We purchased prayer cards bearing Pope Leo’s first greeting to the world— “Peace be with you all”—and had enough blessed so that we could offer one to every Albertus faculty and staff member. Our hope was this might be a tangible way to share a blessing from an experience that belonged not simply to us, but to the entire College community we were privileged to represent.

One photograph accompanying this final reflection captures only a handshake—my hand in Pope Leo’s. Yet for me, it represents something much larger: connection between our Church and Dominican tradition; gratitude for the century of Albertus history that brought us to that remarkable moment; and responsibility for the second century now upon us.

Over these past weeks, I have tried to share some of what Rome gave me: a deeper appreciation for our Dominican roots, the enduring importance of Catholic higher education, the responsibility to embrace innovation while remaining profoundly human, and the obligation each generation inherits to carry forward what has been entrusted to us.

Pope Leo prayed that our time in Rome would strengthen our faith, renew our commitment to the Church’s universal mission, and leave us more captivated by “the beauty of truth and the grandeur of humanity.”

It did.

And so, as Albertus begins its second century, I can think of no more fitting words with which to conclude these reflections—and no more meaningful hope for our community and our world:

Peace be with you all.

Next: This piece concludes the summary reflections from my participation in the 2026 Rome Seminar program. However, be on the lookout for a feature story in the fall edition of Albertus Magnus College’s “From the Hill” magazine, during which I’ll share much more detailing the experience of meeting the Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV.