And for your convenience, here is a link to contact the Curator!
http://www.papalartifacts.com/contact-us/
Father Richard Kunst
In October of 2025 I had the opportunity to greet Pope Leo after a Wednesday audience, and I brought a baseball that I had hoped he would sign for me like Pope Francis did a decade earlier. Unfortunately the Holy Father turned down the request.
Fast Forward to early January of 2026 while we were setting up for The Vatican Unveiled at the Mall of America the very ball Pope Francis signed for me in 2015 was stolen due to scaled back security by the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis. Needless to say I was a bit crushed as the signed ball came as a result of my lone interaction with Pope Francis, and now it was gone.
On the first day that the exhibit was open to the public I met Pastor John and Polly Snider. Their friendship truly became the biggest blessing from the entire Vatican Unveiled event.
I helped organize many of the details surrounding their May trip to Rome to visit their old friend, Bob (Pope Leo XIV), and unbeknownst to me they brought a baseball they intended to ask him to sign for me. And he did, as can be seen in this picture! Only after the pope signed it did they tell me of their plans.
Needless to say I was beyond excited and beyond grateful to my two dear friends for being so thoughtful. They also asked the Holy Father to sign one of the booklets from the Vatican Unveiled, which he graciously did.
I want to thank the Sniders for being so thoughtful and gracious in asking their friend of almost 50 years to sign a baseball for their friend, the priest!
A Very Gracious Pope Leo XIV Signed a Baseball for the Curator
Earlier Information from the Vatican Unveiled Staff
We’ve never told this story publicly — until now.
Before our most recent Vatican Unveiled Exhibit even opened its doors at Mall of America in January 2026, a very special baseball was stolen from Fr. Richard Kunst, our curator. It was a baseball signed by Pope Francis — a personal gift — and it was gone before a single visitor ever walked through the exhibit.
We kept it out of the media, but our team was deflated. But, the exhibit had to go on, and it did — beautifully.
Here’s where the story gets even better:
During Vatican Unveiled, a couple came to the exhibit — John and Polly Snider, close friends of the man who would become Pope Leo.
Fr. Rich connected with them, and that friendship didn’t end when the exhibit closed.
Today, John and Polly spent a few hours with Pope Leo himself. And our new American pope — the one with our Vatican Unveiled book sitting right in front of him — signed a baseball for Fr. Kunst!
We didn’t know John and Polly were doing this for us, and when the text came through after Mass, it was quite the surprise.
We are so thankful for this friendship!!
>> A stolen baseball.
>> A friendship born at Mall of America.
>> A pope who knows the whole story.
Some things are worth the wait.
- Pope Leo XIV
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, O.S.A., Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, Archbishop-Bishop emeritus of Chiclayo, was born on 14 September 1955 in Chicago (Illinois, United States). IN 1977 he entered the novitiate of the Order of Saint Augustine (O.S.A.) in the province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, in Saint Louis. On 29 August 1981 he gave his solemn vows. He studied at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago, receiving a diploma in theology.
At the age of 27 he was sent by the Order to Rome to study canon law at the Pontifical Saint Thomas Aquinas University (Angelicum). He received priestly ordination on 19 June 1982. He received his licentiate in 1984, and was then sent to work in the mission of Chulucanas, in Piura, Peru (1985-1986).
In 1987 he was awarded a doctorate with the thesis: “The role of the local prior in the Order of Saint Augustine”. In the same year he was elected director of vocations and director of the missions of the Augustinian province of “Mother of Good Counsel” of Olympia Fields, Illinois, United States of America. In 1988 he was sent to the mission of Trujillo as director of the joint formation project for Augustinian aspirants in the Vicariates of Chulucanas, Iquitos and Apurímac. There he served as community prior (1988-1992), director of formation (1988-1998) and teacher of the professed (1992-1998). In the archdiocese of Trujillo he was judicial vicar (1989-1998), and professor of canon, patristic and moral law in the “San Carlos e San Marcelo” Major Seminary.
In 1999 he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” province, Chicago. After two and a half years, the ordinary general Chapter elected him prior general, a ministry again entrusted to him in the 2007 ordinary general Chapter. In October 2013 he returned to his province (Chicago) to serve as teacher of the professed and provincial vicar, roles he held 3 November 2014, when Pope Francis appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Chiclayo, Peru, elevating him to the dignity of bishop and assigning him the titular diocese of Sufar. On 7 November he took canonical possession of the diocese in the presence of the apostolic nuncio James Patrick Green; he was ordained a bishop on 12 December, Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, in the cathedral of his diocese. He served as bishop of Chiclayo from 26 November 2015. In March 2018 he became second vice president of the Peruvian Episcopal Conference. Pope Francis appointed him a member of the Congregation for the Clergy in 2019, and member of the Congregation for Bishops in 2020.
On 15 April 2020, the Pope appointed him apostolic administrator of the diocese of Callao.
On 30 January 2023 Pope Francis appointed Cardinal Prevost as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and presidet of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.
Created and proclaimed Cardinal by Pope Francis in the Consistory of 30 September 2023, of the Deaconry of Santa Monica.
Member of:
- The Dicasteries for: Evangelization, Section for first evangelization and the new particular Churches; the Doctrine of the Faith; the Eastern Churches; the Clergy; the Institutes of Consecrated Life and the Societies of Apostolic Life; Culture and Education; Legislative Texts;
- The Pontifical Commission for Vatican City State.
Pope Leo XIV’s Motto and Coat of Arms
Pope Leo XIV: Coat of Arms & Motto
Pope Leo XIV’s coat of arms offers a clear reflection of his Augustinian roots and the values he seeks to promote during his pontificate, particularly unity and communion within the Church.
The shield is divided diagonally into two sections. The upper half features a blue background with a white lily.
The lower half of the shield has a light background and displays an image that recalls the Order of Saint Augustine: a closed book with a heart pierced by an arrow. This is a direct reference to the conversion experience of Saint Augustine himself, who described his personal encounter with God’s Word using the phrase: “Vulnerasti cor meum verbo tuo” – “You have pierced my heart with your Word.”
The Motto
Pope Leo XIV has also chosen a motto that reflects this Augustinian tradition: In Illo uno unum, which means “In the One, we are one.” The phrase is taken from Saint Augustine’s Exposition on Psalm 127, where he explains that “although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one.”
In a 2023 interview with Vatican News’ Tiziana Campisi, then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost spoke about the significance of this motto: “As can be seen from my episcopal motto, unity and communion are truly part of the charism of the Order of Saint Augustine, and also of my way of acting and thinking,” he said. “I believe it is very important to promote communion in the Church, and we know well that communion, participation, and mission are the three key words of the Synod. So, as an Augustinian, for me promoting unity and communion is fundamental.”
Saint Augustine’s reflection on Psalm 127 highlights the theological foundation of this idea. “Christ – head and body – is one single man. And what is the body of Christ? His Church,” Augustine writes. He then adds, “Although we Christians are many, in the one Christ we are one. We are many and we are one – because we are united to Him, and if our Head is in heaven, the members will follow.”
