Chicago – When Sherry Stone learned that the childhood friend Robert Prevost was elected Thursday at the 267th Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, she went on her computer and did what few people can do: she sent him a note of congratulations.
“I told her that we think we have our next primary school meeting at the Vatican,” she said.
Pope Leo XIV newly elected, Robert Prevost addressing the crowd of the main balcony of the central Loggia of the Saint-Pierre basilica for the first time, after the cardinals put an end to the conclave, at the Vatican. May 8, 2025.
Vatican Media / AFP via Getty Images
The election of a former Hyde Parker named Barack Obama at the White House in 2009 catapulted this city into a joyful frenzy for months, and having produced a president remains a source of pride.
When the news broke out Thursday from the prevost election as the first American pope, the atmosphere throughout the city was similar. Immediately, the memes became viral showing Pope Leo XIV holding a hot dog, plunging his Italian beef into the sauce and grabbing a bottle of mulbigation, the city’s unofficial liqueur. Apart from Wrigley Field, the Chicago Cubs marked the moment by announcing its legendary sign: “Hey Chicago is a fan of Cubs!” Similarly, Bennison’s, a bakery in Evanston, just north of the city, announced a new sugar cookie with the resemblance of prevost that he had promised was “as divine as the moment”.
Illinois Governor JB Pritzker published a statement calling for new “historic”.
“Pope Leo XIV inaugurates a new chapter in which I join those of our welcoming state at a time when we need compassion, unity and peace,” he said.
The mayor of Chicago, Brandon Johnson, used the news to send a more informal message to the new Pope: “Everything Dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago!” He posted on X. “Congratulations to the first American pope Leo XIV! We hope to welcome you soon at home.”
While Leo spent two decades in northern Peru, where he became a naturalized bishop and citizen, his first roots are in the southwest, an area known for his inheritance of steelworks and car factories, fans of Sox White Sox and Blackhawks, rows of brick and church and neighborhoods.
Born in Chicago in 1955, Leo attended St. Mary’s from Assumption, a primary school now closed at the tip of the city, and he grew up in Dolton, a southwest suburb located just in front of the school. Later, he obtained his master of the divinity in 1982 from Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park, which was located along the lake, and was ordered the same year. He began his ministry with the Augustinian province of Chicago and was then appointed anterior general of the Augustinian World Order, according to Catholic Theological Union.
The Reverend William Lego, who is also a member of the Augustinian order, attended primary school, the school and the seminar with Leo before the two men become young priests. He said Thursday that he was still used to calling “Father Bob” by his new name.
“He has always been very intelligent, never jumped into the conclusions, he held people with respect, and he listened. I am sure that it will bring to the papacy,” said Lego.
As for their shared chicago roots, Lego has added: “There will always be a note of pride.”
A bishop dancing with an American flag, after the announcement that the American cardinal Robert Prevost was elected by the conclave as a new pope, with the name of Pope Leo, in the Vatican, on May 8, 2025.
Eloisa Lopez / Reuters
As with Obama, many residents have a personal link with Leo. Because their family names both ended with a “P” at the time, Nadia Weer sat next to Leo for eight years in class. She said that at the time, he was so devout and studious that her nickname was “Father Robert”.
“We have always assumed it would be a priest,” she said. “It was true blue. He was good. I’m really proud of him. You like people to succeed when they deserve it. And Robert deserves it.”
The intensity that Leo had with his faith, even as a young boy, impressed Stone, who said he had told people that he possibly wanted to direct the church as a pope.
“The people of the midwest are very uniform. I think I grew up in this environment that he will be a centralist pope. He will bring people together. He will be one of the big popes,” she said.
Leo’s brother John Prevost told ABC News on Thursday that Leo never “questioned” his vocation in life and that, as a child, he “played priest” by using the ironing board as his altar.
“I don’t think he never thought of something else,” said John Prevost.
Many remembered the Leo family as also dedicated to their faith. His father, director of school on the south side of Chicago, volunteered at the Archdiocese of Chicago in the 1990s. Janet Sisler, a superintendent associate of the schools of the Archdiocese at the time, remembers that “Father Bob” would stop on his hometown.
It was obvious, there was “a family story to be dedicated to their faith and dedicated to the service,” she said. “He grew up in this life and continued to impregnate his life decisions with the Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice.”
The roots of Chicago in the workers’ movement were also likely an influence.
“He came from a family where his mother and his father worked.” It is a new pope which includes the importance of the community and the importance of the interaction of the Church in a positive way to serve the world. “
