Michael Thomas Leibrandt: Villanova rises to the occasion in the name of the Pope

You can see the houses on the 1900 block of Wilt Street in North Philadelphia today, still standing as a monument to the collaboration between former President Jimmy Carter, his wife Rosalynn Carter, and the Philadelphia Habitat for Humanity. The 1988 project involving the former President and First Lady in Philadelphia was one of nearly thousands both around the country and the world. Now, Villanova University is kicking off another Habitat for Humanity Project in the name of a different world leader.

This month, Villanova in partnership with Habitat for Humanity broke ground on a new project in the Sharswood and Brewerytown section of North Philadelphia, known as Pope Leo Village. The project, which will construct twenty-six homes thanks to an anonymous contributor who provided a donation in the name of Pontiff Pope XIV, who himself will participate in the 250th in Philadelphia in July of 2026. 

And that’s not all.

The donation was actually made to all twenty Habitat affiliates around the United States, creating some 235 new homes from the East Coast to the Midwest.

On Saturday, around two dozen Villanova students began work on two homes on North Hollywood Street. Reverend Richard M. Donahue, a priest from Pope Leo’s alma mater of Villanova where he graduated in 1977, blessed the construction site which is centered around an open space at the corner of Montgomery Avenue and 19th Street.

Pope Leo will be accepting the Liberty Medal from the National Constitution Center virtually during the Celebration of America’s 250th on July 3rd. His remarks will be able to be heard by livestream for onlookers at Independence Mall.

Over nearly four decades and in conjunction with Habitat for Humanity, Jimmy and Rosalynn Carter performed work to repair, construct, and retrofit some 4,500 homes around the world since 1984. The five houses that Carter worked on in 1988 in North Philadelphia are a great example of the program’s success, still located right across from the Habitat for Humanity headquarters to this very day.

Michael Thomas Leibrandt lives and works in Abington Township, Pennsylvania.