1983 photo shows future Leo marching in communist-organized peace rally in Rome

A newly unearthed photograph taken in Rome in 1983 shows a young Robert Francis Prevost... participating in a left-leaning mass demonstration against NATO missile deployment.

On April 14 Luca Casarini, an Italian left-wing activist known for his role in the “no-global” movement and, more recently, for his work in migrant rescue operations in the Mediterranean, posted an image on his Facebook profile showing a young... Robert Prevost during a peace march. Several news outlets have since picked up the story.

“You’ve come a long way, brother Robert. But you haven’t changed direction,” Casarini commented in his post.

On October 22, 1983, during a large march for peace held in Rome against the installation of NATO Cruise missiles in Comiso, Sicily, and across Europe, a young Prevost was photographed among a group of members of the Augustinian order carrying a sign reading, “Giovani agostiniani per la pace” (“Young Augustinians for Peace”).

The protest, which drew close to a million participants, took place amid heightened Cold War tensions and widespread mobilization for nuclear disarmament, and was organized by a broad coalition of pacifist groups and political organizations, including the Italian Communist Party (PCI), the Italian Communist Youth Federation (FGCI), and peace committees active at NATO bases.

The black-and-white image, which has recently circulated widely on social media platforms, shows Prevost in the front row of demonstrators. According to sources, the photograph was taken by Gianni Novelli, a Stigmatine priest known for his involvement in the Base Christian Communities and for his leadership within Cipax, the Interconfessional Center for Peace.

Novelli played a prominent role in ecclesial networks associated with non-violence and peace activism, and became a leading figure of the so‑called “Catholic dissent” initiative after the Second Vatican Council. After leaving his religious order, he devoted himself to pacifism in an ecumenical sense.

The Base Christian Communities (in Spanish: comunidades de base), which had emerged in the 1960s and 1970s in Italy and Latin America, played a role in fostering grassroots engagement on left-leaning social and political issues.

It is perfectly possible Prevost may have taken part more for peace and nuclear disarmament rather than for the organizer – the communists. However, it still appears naïve on his part largely because the organizers were part of the Italian Communist Party (notoriously a cell of the USSR, directly financed with Kremlin funds).

In particular, the Italian Communist Party operated – as historians now widely acknowledge – as a Soviet propaganda outpost. The pacifism promoted by the Russians also served the purpose of internal disruption and of slowing the deterrence efforts of the NATO bloc.

The photo can also be found among the images preserved in the historical archive of the Italian Communist Party. Alongside the Augustinians, members of several other religious orders – such as Franciscans and Jesuits – also took part in the event.