Chicago Catholics celebrate as native son Pope Leo XIV becomes first American pontiff

CHICAGO, United States

After white smoke billowed Thursday from the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a pope had been chosen, students in every classroom at The Frances Xavier Warde School in Chicago had their eyes glued to TV screens.

As the image of the new pope, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, appeared onscreen, cheers erupted through the hallways. Children jumped out of their seats, pumping their hands in the air.

“Our students are just beside themselves,” said Mary Perrotti, director of advancement at the school. “They’re beyond excited and can’t believe a Chicagoan is their new pope. They were in awe.”

Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV and replaced Pope Francis, who died last month. The first American elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV was born and raised in Chicago before undertaking his ministry in Peru. Catholic Chicagoans gathered in churches and celebrated from their homes as the historic decision was announced.

“Our young people have a model now of a leader with justice and compassion at the heart of his ministries — and who is from their home,” Perrotti said. “It’s such a deep feeling of connection for them.”

Prevost was born in 1955 in the south side Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville and grew up in suburban Dolton, where he attended Mass and elementary school at St. Mary of the Assumption.

He later studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in Hyde Park and taught in local Catholic schools, including at St. Rita High School, according to the school.

“We are overjoyed that someone who is beloved and known to us is now the beloved leader of the whole entire church,” said Barbara Reid, a Dominican sister and president of the Catholic Theological Union.