{"id":779683,"date":"2026-05-07T13:09:37","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:09:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779683\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T13:09:37","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T13:09:37","slug":"pope-leo-xiv-what-to-know-about-chicago-born-robert-prevost","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/779683\/","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo XIV: What to know about Chicago-born Robert Prevost"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary<\/a> who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican\u2019s powerful office of bishops, was elected the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025. Prevost, a 69-year-old member of the Augustinian religious order, took the name Leo XIV<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In his first words as Pope Francis\u2019 successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter\u2019s Basilica, Leo said, \u201cPeace be with you,\u201d and emphasized a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization.<\/p>\n

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One year of Chicago native Pope Leo XIV: Championing migrants, uplifting his hometown \u2014 and challenging Donald Trump<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Here\u2019s what to know about the historic announcement<\/a>, including his childhood home in Dolton, his childhood church in Chicago and his White Sox fandom.<\/p>\n

His Chicago roots
\n\"PopePope Leo XIV reacts wearing a White Sox baseball cap as he meets newly wedded couples during the weekly general audience in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on June 11, 2025. (Photo by Filippo MONTEFORTE \/ AFP)<\/p>\n

Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955<\/a>, 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<\/a> on the Far South Side, attending school, singing in the choir and serving as an altar boy.<\/p>\n

Prevost\u2019s father, Louis<\/a>, 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<\/a>, 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\u2019s Church.<\/p>\n

After graduating from St. Mary\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n

\"JohnJohn Prevost, brother of new Pope Leo XIV, holds a portrait of the three Prevost brothers from 1958 while answering reporters’ questions outside his home on May 8, 2025, in New Lenox. (John J. Kim\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

John Prevost acknowledged that the role will have its challenges but said his brother is ready.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s awesome, it\u2019s a great responsibility, but he will be scrutinized left and right,\u201d he said. \u201cI think it will be a lot. But he has the patience of a saint.\u201d<\/p>\n

\""Hey\u201cHey Chicago, He\u2019s a Sox fan!\u201d reads the White Sox scoreboard after Cardinal Robert Prevost, a Chicago native, was chosen as the 267th pontiff on May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (Chicago White Sox)<\/p>\n

And most importantly, at least in terms of the new pope\u2019s South Side credentials, John Prevost confirmed that his brother has \u201calways\u201d been a White Sox fan.<\/a><\/p>\n

His inaugural Mass<\/p>\n