5 Things To Know About Pope Leo XIV And His Path From Dolton To The Vatican

CHICAGO, IL — The Catholic Church has its first American pope in Chicago-area native and now-former cardinal Robert Prevost, who will be known as Pope Leo XIV.

Here are five things to know about the new pope and his ties to the region.

READ MORE: First American Pope Named [PHOTOS]

1. He grew up in Dolton

The pope’s family had been living in a house on East 141st Place in Dolton when he was born, just blocks from St. Mary of the Assumption parish on Chicago’s far south side, where Prevost graduated from grade school, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“We used to pray with our hands, you know, our fingers pointing to heaven, and, after a while, you get tired of doing that, and you just want to fold them over,” 69-year-old Marianne Angarola, a former classmate of the pope, told the Sun-Times.

“Robert Prevost never folded his hands over. He was just godly. Not in an in-your-face way. It was part of his aura, like he was hand-selected, and he embraced it. And he wasn’t weird. He was nice.”

2. His family has deep ties to Chicago’s Catholic community

Both of the pope's parents had jobs working for religious institutions during their professional lives, according to the Sun-Times.

His father, Louis Prevost, had a career in education, leading Glenwood School District 167 and Mount Carmel Elementary School in Chicago Heights, the newspaper reported.

His mother, Mildred Prevost, attended DePaul University for library science and worked at Holy Name Cathedral, Von Steuben High School and Mendel College Prep High School, according to the Sun-Times.

“She was one of the ladies that we called church ladies,” Angarola told the newspaper “They went to Mass on a daily basis. They cleaned the altars, the church, the sacristy. She was involved in everything, including the fundraising activities. I don’t ever remember seeing her wear pants.”

3. He has faced criticism for mishandling sexual abuse in the church

The Survivors Network of the Abused by Priests released a statement Thursday expressing "grave concern" about the pope's record handling sexual abuse allegations, particularly in his role as provincial of the Augustinians.

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• $2M Settlement Reached In Rape Claim Against Ex-Providence President McGrath

Prevost was elected provincial prior of the Augustinian Province of “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago in 1999 before serving as prior general of the ordinary General Chapter of the Order of Saint Augustine, according to Vatican News, which reported that in 2013 he returned to the province in Chicago for about a year.

In 2000, alleged predator priest the Rev. James Ray was moved to St. John Stone Friary in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood, despite its proximity to a Catholic elementary school, the Sun-Times reported in 2021, noting the Rev. Richard McGrath was also found to be living there in 2018.

McGrath was the former president of Providence Catholic High School, where he had held a leadership position since the mid-1980s. He abruptly retired in 2017, the same year former student Robert Krankvich alleged that he had been raped by McGrath as a teen in the mid-1990s. A lawsuit was settled in 2023, with the school and Order paying Krankvich $2 million.

Krankvich came forward with his claims against McGrath after another student reported she had witnessed the priest viewing child pornography on his cell phone — a device that McGrath never handed over to investigators and which has never surfaced. In addition to those by Krankvich, there were numerous accusations against McGrath.

The Augustinian order has never disclosed, Krankvich's attorney said, if they conducted their own investigation into McGrath and, if they had, the results were never made public.

4. He speaks five languages

The pope speaks English, Spanish, Italian, French and Portuguese, the Sun-Times reported.

In addition to being a Chicago-area native, he is also a Peruvian citizen and lived for years in Peru, first as a missionary and then as an archbishop.

5. He was promoted to cardinal by Pope Francis

Prevost was named a cardinal by his predecessor in 2023 and took the position in 2024, according to Vatican News.

Francis brought Prevost to the Vatican in 2023 as the powerful head of the office that vets bishop nominations, one of the most important jobs in the Catholic Church, and to assume the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America.

He presided over one of the most revolutionary reforms Francis made, when he added three women to the voting bloc that decides which bishop nominations to forward to the pope. In early 2025, Francis again showed his esteem by appointing Prevost to the most senior rank of cardinals.

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Chicago Native Becomes 1st American Pope

The Associated Press contributed to this story.