Father Joe Farrell, a 1985 Villanova University graduate ordained at Our Mother of Good Counsel Parish in Bryn Mawr, now leads the worldwide Augustinian Order from Rome.

Farrell was elected prior general of the Order of St. Augustine in September 2025 at the order's general chapter in Rome, according to a profile published by Main Line Today on Wednesday, Sept. 2. He is the 98th person to hold the title, the Catholic Herald reported, and is responsible for Augustinian friars in roughly 50 countries.

The role puts Farrell in the same city as his longtime friend Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost. Both are Villanova alumni and members of the Augustinian Order. Farrell first met Prevost in 1987 and told Main Line Today the two still share what he called a brotherly relationship.

Farrell grew up in Drexel Hill, the third of Frank and Pat Farrell's six children. He attended Monsignor Bonner High School, participated in campus ministry and CYO, and performed in theater productions at Upper Darby Summer Stage. He earned a business degree from Villanova in 1985.

After graduation, Farrell kept turning down job offers that required relocation. That spring, Father Joe Mostardi, then the Augustinians' local director of vocations, called the Farrell house and asked Joe how his job search was going. Farrell told him his heart wasn't in it. Mostardi suggested he consider the priesthood.

By fall 1985, Farrell was a prenovitiate at Villanova. In August 1986, he moved to Racine, Wisconsin, for novitiate training. He was ordained in 1991 at Our Mother of Good Counsel in Bryn Mawr.

Before his election as prior general, Farrell spent 12 years as vicar general and assistant general for North America. Father Rob Hagan, prior provincial of the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova and a fellow Drexel Hill native, told Main Line Today the vote was straightforward: "Who else were we going to vote for? He was doing the job in front of our eyes."

Farrell's election came months after Pope Leo XIV's selection on May 8, 2025. Leo became the first U.S.-born pope and the first from the Augustinian Order, according to the Province of St. Thomas of Villanova. The papal election triggered what the order has called the "Leo Effect," with more than 200 vocational inquiries passing the first level of screening.

On Aug. 28, 2025, the province honored Pope Leo XIV with the Saint Augustine Medal, its highest honor. Farrell and Hagan hand-delivered the medal. A dinner at the Union League of Philadelphia raised more than $1 million for the care of Augustinian brothers and their ministries. Villanova is also creating a medal Pope Leo XIV will present in October.

Farrell's uncle, Tom Farrell, who runs WorkShop Content Studios, recalled that Joe's father Frank ended grace each night with a prayer for vocations. When Joe announced he would become a priest, Tom told Main Line Today, the family looked back and saw it had been a long time coming.