Robert Prevost was ‘the pride and joy of every priest and nun’ at St. Mary’s on Chicago’s South Side

CHICAGO — Catholics crossed the portion are celebrating the historical announcement that the archetypal American pope successful the 2,000-year past of the religion was calved and raised successful the Chicago area.

In his archetypal words arsenic Pope Leo XIV, Robert Francis Prevost announced “peace beryllium with you,” invoking a connection of dialog and attraction for those successful request from Vatican City connected Thursday.

“When I heard the quality of the caller Holy Father astatine that moment, astatine slightest present successful Chicago, the prima came out,” said the Rev. Greg Sakowicz, rector of Holy Name Cathedral.

Some would accidental the sunny upwind was conscionable a coincidence, Sakowicz acknowledged.

But “a coincidence is God’s mode of remaining anonymous,” helium added.

Prevost’s Catholic roots were planted successful Chicago’s southbound suburbs, wherever helium lived successful Dolton with his parents and 2 brothers. He grew up successful St. Mary of the Assumption parish connected the Far South Side, attending schoolhouse determination and serving arsenic altar boy.

Marianne Angarola, 69, who was successful the aforesaid people arsenic Prevost, remembers him arsenic a bully vocalist who “cared astir people” and “looked for the bully successful things.”

St. Mary’s closed and went into a authorities of disrepair, she said. But Angarola and others person kept up with his career, pursuing on connected the net for updates arsenic helium roseate done the ranks of the church.

“He was the pridefulness and joyousness of each clergyman and nun successful that school,” Angarola said. “Everybody knew helium was special.”

Another St. Mary’s classmate, Peggy Wurtz, remembered Prevost singing astatine midnight Mass with his mother, who was besides a talented vocalist. Wurtz said she was intimidated by his intelligence, adjacent successful people school. During their 5th people subject fair, Wurtz recalled being embarrassed to reply a question astir her bony decay task successful beforehand of Prevost, who was much deft successful explaining his work.

“He won archetypal prize,” Wurtz said.

The people of 1969 has an yearly reunion, and she hopes they tin spot him astatine 1 down the line.

“I fig we should person a people reunion successful Rome truthful helium gets america each astatine once,” Wurtz said.

His father, Louis, was an pedagogue who led Glenwood School District 167 and served arsenic main of Mount Carmel Elementary School successful Chicago Heights, which was closed successful 1990. He died successful 1997, according to his obituary.

His mother, Mildred, was a librarian who worked astatine Holy Name Cathedral, Von Steuben High School connected the North Side and Mendel Catholic Prep. She died successful 1990, aft decades of work to St. Mary’s Church.

After graduating from St. Mary’s successful 1969, Prevost attended St. Augustine Seminary High School successful Michigan. He concisely lived astatine the now-shuttered Tolentine seminary successful Olympia Fields earlier attending Villanova University.

He was ordained a clergyman successful Rome and studied determination until 1984, shuttling betwixt religion enactment positions successful Chicago and Peru until 2023.

Prevost, a longtime missionary and subordinate of the Augustinian spiritual order, made his archetypal quality connected the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica connected Thursday wearing the accepted reddish cape of the papacy.

Prevost, 69, was caput of the Augustinians from 2001 to 2013, based successful Rome. He besides served arsenic caput of the Chicago state of the bid and successful 2014 was named apostolic head and past bishop of Chiclayo, successful bluish Peru successful a portion wherever the Chicago Augustinians person agelong had a presence.

In 2023, his predecessor, Pope Francis, named Prevost to instrumentality implicit the Vatican’s almighty bishops’ bureau that vets nominations astir the globe from a retiring Canadian who had precocious been accused of intersexual misconduct. The captious Holy See bureau besides investigates allegations of maltreatment oregon negligence against bishops.

“This is simply a historical day,” said Robert Orsi, prof of religion astatine Northwestern University. “Robert Francis Prevost was a favourite of Pope Francis, who made him cardinal lone 2 years ago. The caller pope’s namesake, Leo XIII, was known for his outspoken defence of the rights of moving radical to a surviving wage. By taking this name, Pope Leo XIV intelligibly signals his priorities. Pope Leo XIII was besides profoundly wary of nationalists, particularly those who would disagreement the religion implicit governmental disputes. The Pope Leo of the aboriginal 21st century, who spent astir of his 69 years extracurricular the United States, appears already to beryllium calling Catholics backmost to a genuinely global, genuinely open-hearted faith.”

Close to 100 radical were astatine noon Mass astatine Holy Name Cathedral successful Chicago connected Thursday. Near the extremity of the service, the rector announced who the pope was — an American-born from Chicago. The assemblage erupted successful applause.

Julie Bartholomae from Lincoln Park stepped extracurricular to instrumentality a telephone from her sister, who was telling her the sanction of the pope.

Her eyes lit up erstwhile she recovered retired the caller person of much than a cardinal Catholics worldwide was from Chicago.

“I deliberation this is truthful breathtaking — a U.S. pope and he’s from Chicago,” she said.

The announcement of a caller pope brought Katherine Gehl, a parishioner astatine Holy Name, tears of happiness. She was walking location from the gym erstwhile she heard the quality and ran to Holy Name.

“It was bonzer to beryllium here, you know, successful the beingness of different Catholics,” she said. “All I each I tin accidental is I’m conscionable praying that this pope brings a telephone for unity. That’s what we need, due to the fact that we person truthful galore challenges worldwide and successful division, we shall not lick them. They volition lone beryllium solved successful unity.”

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