Pope Leo XIV: What to know about Chicago-born Robert Prevost

Robert Prevost, the Chicago-born missionary who spent his career ministering in Peru and took over the Vatican’s 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.

In his first words as Pope Francis’ successor, uttered from the loggia of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo said, “Peace be with you,” and emphasized a message of peace, dialogue and missionary evangelization.

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Here’s what to know about the historic announcement, including his childhood home in Dolton, his childhood church in Chicago and his White Sox fandom.

His Chicago roots

Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, 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 on the Far South Side, attending school, singing in the choir and serving as an altar boy.

Prevost’s father, Louis, 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, 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’s Church.

After graduating from St. Mary’s 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.

John Prevost acknowledged that the role will have its challenges but said his brother is ready.

“It’s awesome, it’s a great responsibility, but he will be scrutinized left and right,” he said. “I think it will be a lot. But he has the patience of a saint.”

And most importantly, at least in terms of the new pope’s South Side credentials, John Prevost confirmed that his brother has “always” been a White Sox fan.

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His inaugural Mass

Pope Leo XIV called for unity in an increasingly divided world on May 18, 2025, during his inaugural Mass in St. Peter’s Square, marking the official start of his historic papacy as the first American-born pontiff.

“Brothers and sisters, I would like that our first great desire be for a united church, a sign of unity and communion, which becomes a leaven for a reconciled world,” the new pope, a native of the south suburbs, declared during his homily. “In this time… we still see too much discord, too many wounds caused by hatred, violence, prejudice, the fear of difference, and an economic paradigm that exploits the Earth’s resources and marginalizes the poorest.”

The event began with Pope Leo XIV waving to and blessing the multitudes from the famous popemobile, a vehicle specially constructed to transport the pontiff for public appearances, allowing him to be visible while still protected.

Some in the audience chanted “Peru,” others shouted “USA,” a nod to the pope’s dual citizenship. The Holy Father appeared to spot and point at a Chicago flag near a group that included Oprah Winfrey, Gayle King, Maria Shriver and the Rev. Manuel Dorantes of Chicago.

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His words for Donald Trump

Pope Leo has been an increasingly outspoken critic of Donald Trump’s policies, repeatedly challenged numerous foreign and domestic agendas of the president. But the clash reached a fever pitch over the war in Iran, which Pope Leo has denounced multiple times.

Trump criticized Leo on Truth Social on April 12, accusing him of being soft on crime, cozy with the left and said that the first American pontiff owed his election to Trump. Peoria Bishop Louis Tylka said Trump’s message was “very disappointing,” adding that it was “below the dignity of the office for the president to launch a personal attack on our Holy Father Pope Leo.”

“Pope Leo is not a politician. He is a pastor. He is the vicar of Christ,” Tylka said during a Monday phone interview with the Tribune. “And he’s speaking the Gospel truth which calls us all to show respect for one another and find ways to solve conflicts which don’t include war.”

The pope pushed back, stressing that the Vatican’s pleas for peace and reconciliation are based on the Gospel, and that he does not fear the Trump administration as the president’s post claimed.

“To put my message on the same plane as what the president has attempted to do here, I think is not understanding what the message of the Gospel is,” he said aboard the papal plane on April 13. “And I’m sorry to hear that but I will continue on what I believe is the mission of the church in the world today.”

Prevost’s previous social media history includes sharing criticism of Trump’s administration policies and of comments by Vice President JD Vance. He rarely wrote original content, but a look back through his social media timeline showed numerous posts sharing viewpoints opposed to moves aimed at restricting acceptance of migrants and refugees in the U.S.

His boyhood home in Dolton

The south suburban village of Dolton closed on the modest, three-bedroom ranch-style house in July, paying $375,000, and has since welcomed visitors who are often seen posing for photos outside its front door.

Robert Francis Prevost lived in the home with his parents and siblings for many years, and it’s become a tourist destination since his election as pope. The pope’s parents owned and lived in the brick house at 212 East 141st Place for decades, and his father sold the home in 1996 for $58,000.

Guillermina Terrell of Homewood owned the home with her husband from 2018 until 2024 and was stunned to learn of the ranch style-home’s prior inhabitant.

“You’re kidding. Oh my God, that’s amazing,” Terrell said when informed that it was the pope’s boyhood home. “OK, I’m just mind-blown.”

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His childhood church

Above the door of the church in the last blocks of Chicago, the Virgin Mary still stands with her arms wide open.

The double doors beneath the statue’s feet are shut, but a disintegrating wooden side door swings freely, leading to a set of stairs with chipped paint scattered on them. Above, a pool of blue light from a stained-glass window illuminates a balcony where the St. Mary of the Assumption Church choir — including a young boy who would later become the first American-born pope — once sang.

Antoinette Nuzzo stepped inside the sanctuary in early May 2025, took a look around and thought out loud: “Wow, they took a lot of stuff out of here.” Nuzzo, 71, had not been inside St. Mary’s since the church’s final Mass in the summer of 2011. But she came back to see what remained of the old sanctuary because it is where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, began his formal religious journey.

Many others made the same trip in Leo’s first hours as pope, wanting to feel a connection with the South Sider who had just appeared in papal regalia on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica. And in doing so, they may have been the site’s first unofficial pilgrims.

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His White Sox fandom

Cubs fans were quick to claim the pope as one of their own, with Chairman Tom Ricketts saying, “Not only would we welcome Pope Leo XIV to Wrigley Field, he could sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ballgame.'” The Wrigley Field marquee even put up “Hey, Chicago, He’s a Cubs fan!” on May 1, 2025.

But no, the new pope is actually a White Sox fan.

“Some things are bigger than baseball, and in this case we’re glad to have a White Sox fan represented at the Vatican,” the team said in a statement. “A pinstripe White Sox jersey with his name on it and a hat already are on the way to Rome, and of course, the Pontiff always is welcome at the ballpark.”

In fact, before he was pope, Robert Prevost attended Game 1 of the White Sox-Astros World Series in 2005 — and a TV camera found him, by chance or by fate, in the ninth inning. In late May 2025, the White Sox unveiled a mural on a pillar near Section 140 at Rate Field, where Prevost and friends sat during that game.

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His election

The crowd in St. Peter’s Square erupted in cheers when white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel on the second day of the conclave on May 1, 2025, the most geographically diverse in history. Priests made the sign of the cross and nuns wept as the crowd shouted “Viva il papa!”

Waving flags from around the world, tens of thousands of people waited to learn who had won and were shocked when an hour later, the senior cardinal deacon appeared on the loggia and said “Habemus Papam!” and announced the winner was Prevost. He spoke to the crowd in Italian and Spanish, but not English.

“Greetings … to all of you, and in particular, to my beloved diocese of Chiclayo in Peru, where a faithful people have accompanied their bishop, shared their faith,” he said in Spanish.

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