In the week since Pope Leo XIV became the first American pope in history, Catholic churches around the world have decorated their doors with white and gold sashes to commemorate the arrival of a new spiritual leader.
Much closer to home, parishes within the Archdiocese of Chicago, including Evanston, celebrated the ascendance of one of their own to the papacy.
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago in 1955, grew up in the south Chicago suburb of Dolton. He is the first member of the Catholic Augustinian religious order to become pope.
While he later spent a significant part of his ministry in Peru, Leo grew up in a tight-knit Catholic community in Chicago’s South Side. On his path to priesthood, Leo obtained his Master of Divinity from the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park.
Fellow CTU alum Father Jean-Philippe Lokpo from Evanston’s St. John XXIII Parish said when he first heard the news of Leo’s papacy, he was “personally surprised.” He described feeling an instant connection to the new pope due to their shared alma mater, Chicago roots and backgrounds as missionaries.
“It really hit close to home, very much close to me,” Lokpo said.
Susan Ross, a St. John XXIII parishioner and professor emerita of theology at Loyola University Chicago, noted that CTU’s nature as a co-ed institution with diverse, international religious orders could boost a broader view of the Catholic faith during Leo’s papacy.
While Leo brings significant international experience from his time in Peru and his leadership in the Augustinian order, both Lokpo and Ross agree that his roots in the Chicago community endear him to local Catholics in a unique way.
“He understands our reality,” Lokpo said. “My parishioners were very much excited, pleased and happy to see that somebody very, very close to them has been named pope.”
Father Bradley Zamora, Northwestern’s Catholic chaplain and director of the Sheil Catholic Center, said the pope’s relative youth and Chicago origins appealed to some students.
Zamora, who shares close ties with Chicago’s Augustinian community, said he met Leo on one of his homecoming trips to Chicago from Peru around 10 years ago.
Zamora said Leo’s latest joking interactions with the press and Catholics in the Vatican demonstrate the same sense of “humanity” and relatability that he remembers from their exchange a decade ago.
“He’s just a guy who’s down to earth, who knows himself, who loves the Lord,” Zamora said. “Those two things are the way in which he chooses to live his life, which is how all of us should.”
On the day Leo became pope, Zamora hosted a special Mass at Sheil and handed out Portillo’s french fries to celebrate his Chicago roots.
Evanston community members also celebrated the new pope beyond places of worship. Bennison’s Bakery, known for its European-style baking and special Lenten desserts, debuted “pope cookies” adorned with a printed image of Pope Leo XIV soon after the Vatican’s announcement.
Phoebe Casey, one of the business’ bakers, designed the cookies following a suggestion from the bakery’s owner, Jory Downer, after news from the Vatican broke.
The bakery’s Pope Leo XIV cookies marked the first time they commemorated a new pope, Casey said.
Casey said the bakery sold 1,200 pope cookies by Monday, and had received orders from around 10 states, from Colorado to Florida.
“It’s not just a local Chicago thing,” Casey said. “The entire country is really just so proud to have a pope from America.”
Although Casey is not personally Catholic, she said she feels “incredibly proud” to have Midwestern and Chicago representation in the Vatican and support from Evanston’s Catholic community.
While Evanston residents rejoice in their shared regional connections with the pope, Zamora said the core of that excitement comes with the continuity of the church’s papal tradition.
“For all of us, the excitement wasn’t in the name. The excitement came with ‘Habemus papam,’ (or) we have a pope, and the joy of knowing that the family is back together again,” Zamora said.
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