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. 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 peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization.
Here’s what else to know about the historic announcement — and what it means for the Chicago area.
News of the new pope
The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel on the second day of the conclave, the most geographically diverse in history. Priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted “Viva il papa!”
Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won and were shocked when an hour later, the senior cardinal deacon appeared on the loggia and said “Habemus Papam!” and announced the winner was Prevost.
He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English.
“Greetings … to all of you, and in particular, to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith,” he said in Spanish. Read more here.
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His Chicago roots
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.
Prevost’s father, Louis, was an educator who led Glenwood School District 167 and served as principal of now-defunct Mount Carmel Elementary School in Chicago Heights. He died in 1997, according to his obituary.
His mother, Mildred, was a librarian who worked at Holy Name Cathedral, Von Steuben High School on the North Side and Mendel Catholic Prep. She died in 1990 after decades of service to St. Mary’s Church.
After graduating from St. Mary’s in 1969, Prevost attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan. Then he briefly lived at the now-shuttered Tolentine seminary in south suburban Olympia Fields before attending Villanova University in Pennsylvania.
John Prevost acknowledged that the role will have its challenges but said his brother is ready.
“It’s awesome, it’s a great responsibility, but he will be scrutinized left and right,” he said. “I think it will be a lot. But he has the patience of a saint.”
And most importantly, at least in terms of the new pope’s South Side credentials, John Prevost confirmed that his brother has “always” been a White Sox fan. Read more here.
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How the new Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church fell into disrepair
Above the door of the church in the last blocks of Chicago, the Virgin Mary still stands with her arms wide open.
The double doors beneath the statue’s feet are shut, but a disintegrating wooden side door swings freely, leading to a set of stairs with chipped paint scattered on them. Above, a pool of blue light from a stained-glass window illuminates a balcony where the St. Mary of the Assumption Church choir — including a young boy who would later become the first American-born pope — once sang.
Antoinette Nuzzo stepped inside the sanctuary earlier this week, took a look around and thought out loud: “Wow, they took a lot of stuff out of here.” Nuzzo, 71, had not been inside St. Mary’s since the church’s final Mass in the summer of 2011. But she came back Thursday to see what remained of the old sanctuary because it is where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, began his formal religious journey.
Many others made the same trip in Leo’s first hours as pope, wanting to feel a connection with the South Sider who had just appeared in papal regalia on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. They posed for pictures outside the building and walked gingerly around the crumbling interior, agog that the first American to lead the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics could have roots there.
And in doing so, they may have been the site’s first unofficial pilgrims. Read more here.
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- Dolton hopes ties to Pope Leo XIV will burnish town’s image and spur growth
White Sox embracing their newest superfan
For many South Siders and White Sox fans, the news of Robert Prevost’s election to head of the Roman Catholic Church was nothing less than a godsend during these trying times. It brought joy to a part of Chicago that hasn’t had much to celebrate lately and smiles to faces of thousands who were proud of the fact one of their own was suddenly on top of the world.
Before Friday’s game, the Sox congratulated Pope Leo XIV on the video board as “the South Side’s very own.” A small but appreciative crowd gave the pope a nice ovation. Divine intervention was on the minds of many.
“We’ll take it,” manager Will Venable said. “Great to have him on our side, for sure.”
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. Read more here.
A ‘Midwesterner who is not afraid of hard work,’ Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich says
As newly elected Pope Leo XIV made his first appearance on the loggia at St. Peter’s Basilica, Cardinal Blase Cupich looked on from an adjacent balcony, keenly aware of the monumental moment and its significance for more than a billion Catholics worldwide.
The archbishop of Chicago gazed down at the piazza and crowd that spilled to the Tiber River, jam-packed with more than 250,000 faithful awaiting the first words of the new pontiff.
“To be in that position is something that I’ll never be able to replicate in the future,” Cupich said during a phone interview with the Tribune from Vatican City. “It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience to be on the same platform where the new pope is going to be announced with hundreds of thousands of people chanting his name.”
Following the papal conclave’s historic selection, Cupich declared that Chicago should be “proud to have produced” the new pope, a South Sider who became the first American pontiff in the 2,000-year history of the Catholic Church. Read more here.
Criticism of Trump and Vance
Prevost’s previous social media history includes sharing criticism of Donald Trump’s administration policies and of comments by Vice President JD Vance.
The majority of the posts on the X platform are related to or in support of Catholic news and church initiatives. He rarely writes original content, but a look back through his social media timeline shows numerous posts sharing viewpoints opposed to moves aimed at restricting acceptance of migrants and refugees in the U.S.
