Good morning, Chicago.
On Thursday, Robert Francis Prevost was elected pope and now leads the 1.4 billion-strong Catholic Church.
In the days since, we’ve spoken with family, friends and the owners of his favorite haunts when he visits home to learn more about Prevost.
Read coverage of our homegrown head of the church below.
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Chicago native Robert Prevost becomes the first pope from the US in history
Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church on Thursday.
Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV.
In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of “a disarmed and disarming peace” dialogue and missionary evangelization. He wore the traditional red cape and trappings of the papacy — a cape that Francis had eschewed on his election in 2013 — suggesting a return to some degree of tradition after Francis’ unorthodox pontificate.
Prevost had been a leading candidate for the papacy, but there had long been a taboo against a U.S. pope, given the country’s geopolitical power already wielded in the secular sphere. But Prevost was seemingly eligible because he’s also a Peruvian citizen and had lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as an archbishop.
Pope Leo XIV lays out vision of papacy and identifies AI as a main challenge for humanity
Pope Leo XIV laid out the vision of his papacy Saturday, identifying artificial intelligence as one of the most critical matters facing humanity and vowing to continue with some of the core priorities of Pope Francis.
But in a sign he was making the papacy very much his own, Leo made his first outing since his election, traveling to a sanctuary south of Rome that is dedicated to the Madonna and is of particular significance to his Augustinian order and his namesake, Pope Leo XIII.
Robert Prevost was ‘the pride and joy of every priest and nun’ at St. Mary’s on Chicago’s South Side
Robert Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, at Mercy Hospital in Chicago, and his Catholic roots were planted in the south suburbs, where he lived in Dolton with his parents and two brothers. He grew up in St. Mary of the Assumption parish on the Far South Side, attending school, singing in the choir and serving as an altar boy.
Marianne Angarola, 69, who was in the same class as Prevost, remembers him as a good singer who “cared about people” and “looked for the good in things.”
Pope Leo XIV’s family: What to know about his parents and their deep Chicago ties
Here’s a look at what we discovered about some of Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV‘s family members in the Tribune archives.
Newly named Pope Leo XIV has Creole roots in New Orleans, genealogist says
Robert Francis Prevost is partially descended from Creole people of color, according to Jari C. Honora, a noted genealogist and historian.
The word “Creole” has multiple meanings in a Louisiana context. It can refer to people of European descent who were born in the Americas. But it also commonly refers to mixed-race people of color.
How the new Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church in Chicago fell into disrepair — and what may lie ahead
People who gathered outside the abandoned St. Mary of the Assumption on Thursday mused about what the future might hold for Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church, given its new significance.
“If he was baptized here, it’s a historic place,” said Oak Lawn resident Steve Ligda. “I bet (the archdiocese) wishes they didn’t close it now.”
Pope Leo XIV’s boyhood home in Dolton was on the market until Thursday. What comes next for the house?
When home rehabber Paweł Radzik bought a modest, three-bedroom ranch-style house in south suburban Dolton last year for $66,000, he saw it as a chance to do what he does best: make some upgrades and turn around and sell the property for a profit.
What Radzik did not know at the time of his purchase, however, was the home’s divinely inspired origins.
The house, on East 141st Place in Dolton, was the boyhood home of Robert Prevost — now known to the world as Pope Leo XIV. Prevost’s parents — Louis, a school administrator who died in 1997, and Mildred, a librarian who died in 1990 — had owned and lived in the brick house for decades.
Chicago loudly and proudly claims homegrown Pope Leo XIV — and the ‘Pope’s Pizza’ at Aurelio’s
T-shirts calling him “Da Pope” are already for sale. Portillo’s introduced an Italian beef sandwich called “The Leo” to its menu, and the Wieners Circle, the famed hot dog stand in Lincoln Park known for its viral insults and profanities, also debuted a new sign — one that required a working knowledge of Latin to understand.
Pope Leo XIV is a ‘Midwesterner who is not afraid of hard work,’ Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich says
Cardinal Blase Cupich described the pope as an organized and meticulous worker, who is humble and strives to take in a variety of different perspectives.
“He’s very smart — he picks up things quickly. But he also has the ability to listen to other people and make sure that people with different opinions than his are listened to,” Cupich said. “There’s no ego that gets in the way of his own deliberation and decision making. He just wants to always try to do the right thing and discern the right path forward. There is a great authenticity to him. And I think that will serve him well as Pope Leo XIV.”
Suburban church group witnesses Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV greeting the public in Rome
More than a dozen members of a suburban Chicago church happened to get a surprisingly close look at the selection process for Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV, the first American elected to lead the global Roman Catholic Church.
Column: White Sox embracing their newest superfan, Pope Leo XIV — while trolling the Cubs
After the Cubs put the message “Hey Chicago, he’s a Cubs fan” on their iconic marquee Thursday afternoon, the Sox countered with the message “Hey Chicago, he’s a Sox fan” on the video board at Rate Field and displayed it again Friday night.
It was the kind of in-your-face trolling not seen in the crosstown rivalry since 1997, when the Sox’s flagship radio station had a billboard erected next to Wrigley Field that read: “Major League Baseball, 8.1 miles south.” That, of course, was the distance from Wrigley Field to what was then called new Comiskey Park, and a dig at a very bad Cubs team.
What’s in a name? Pope Leo XIV’s choice signals a commitment to social justice
Pope Leo XIV‘s choice of name signals a commitment to social justice which is very much in line with the late Pope Francis ‘ global ministry.
Pope Leo XIII, who was head of the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, laid the foundation for modern Catholic social thought, most famously with his 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum, which addressed workers’ rights and capitalism at the dawn of the industrial age. He criticized both laissez-faire capitalism and state-centric socialism, giving shape to a distinctly Catholic vein of economic teaching.
Robert Prevost known as the ‘saint of the north’ in Peru
In Peru, he is known as the saintly missionary who waded through mud after torrential rains flooded the region, bringing help to needy people, and as the bishop who spearheaded the life-saving purchase of oxygen production plants during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“He worked so hard to find help, that there was not only enough for one plant, but for two oxygen plants,” said Janinna Sesa, who met Prevost while she worked for the church’s Caritas nonprofit in Peru.
“He has no problem fixing a broken-down truck until it runs,” she added.
Pope Leo XIV has shared criticism of Donald Trump and JD Vance
Pope Leo XIV is in a new job that will have many crossovers into politics and whose social media history includes sharing criticism of Trump administration policies and of comments by Vice President JD Vance.
Video shows comments from Pope Leo XIV that disappoint LGBTQ activists
Pope Leo XIV, in remarks in 2012 when he was the Augustinian prior general in Chicago, made comments critical of what he called the “homosexual lifestyle” and the role of mass media in promoting acceptance of same-sex relationships that conflicted with Catholic doctrine.
Advocates press for accounting of sex-abuse cases in new pope’s past jurisdictions
He returned to Chicago in 1998 to lead the order’s Midwest province and later as its worldwide leader. During that time, he came under fire for his handling of two sex abuse cases involving Augustinian priests in the area. Survivors organizations have accused him of allowing the Rev. James Ray, a priest accused of abusing minors and whose ministry had been restricted since 1991, to live at the Augustinian’s St. John Stone Friary in Hyde Park in 2000 despite its proximity to a Catholic elementary school. The Vatican previously has denied Prevost approved the accommodation.
Prevost also has been criticized for the order’s handling of allegations against the Rev. Richard McGrath, the former president of Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox. McGrath served for 32 years as principal and then president of the school before retiring amid complaints that he had abused a student and had pornography on his phone. The order settled one accuser’s lawsuit for $2 million in 2023. McGrath was never criminally charged. The Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests filed a complaint against Prevost with the Vatican in March.
Clarence Page: Pope Leo XIV seems well loved — but for how long?
Pope Leo XIV is a new pope, but he will face a host of old controversies, writes Clarence Page in his latest column. Some see him as Francis’ heir, while others see signs of doctrinal conservatism. Many will project their own political preoccupations on him, but his preoccupation will be with serving the nearly 1.4 billion Catholics around the world.
Editorial: Welcome, Pope Leo XIV, Chicago’s Holy Father
Robert Prevost was a long-shot contender for the biggest job in the Catholic world, the Tribune Editorial Board wrote on Thursday. We Chicagoans love a good underdog. We wouldn’t have had it any other way.
Welcome and God bless you, Pope Leo XIV. Come home soon.
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