Viewpoint: Local cleric in my town
Chicago's Hometown Hero Brews Global Faith
Let me tell ya, I shed a tear or two when I got wind that Pope Leo XIV, aka Bob Prevost, hails from the very same streets of Chicago as I do. Reminiscing takes me back to St. Peter's Church in the Loop, where I'd drop in for Mass every once in a while.
Typically, it was the 5:30 service. The crowd was a diverse mix, mainly cleanup and maintenance folks already in their work attire, stopping by for a prayer on their way to their work, while power-suit types from skyscrapers raced past, heading home.
Marta, our building's cleaner from Poland, filled me in about the so-called "cleaning crew Mass." Marta was a foreigner too. When we all recited, along with the priest, "I believe in God, the Father almighty, Creator of heaven and earth..." you could pick up accents from all over the globe: Poland, Mexico, Italy, China, Lithuania, Ireland. It was a mini United Nations right there.
These Masses weren't grand assemblies. Instead, they felt intimate, and familiar faces started to surface. Most of us were either solo like Marta, heading to pray before her worknight begun, or like me, wrapping up a workday. When we exchanged the symbolic peace gesture, I often wondered where else on Earth could one share such a heartfelt moment with folks from all over the world? We might've prayed for different things, but we wished each other peace in our lives.
I recall the excitement that Marta and other Polish folk felt when John Paul II—the first Polish Pope—paid a visit to Chicago in 1979. I slipped a rosary from Marta into my pocket when I covered the Mass in Grant Park. When I returned it to her, she held it close and whispered, "I can feel him here."
Stepping out onto the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on Thursday, Pope Leo XIV stirred memories of that other St. Peter's, nestled right here in Chicago. The working folks attending these Masses might recognize Pope Leo, once known as Father Bob, and think, "He's one of us."
My man Bob Prevost, born and bred in the Windy City, has etched his name in history as the first American to lead the Roman Catholic Church. He's of Italian, French, and Spanish descent and cut his teeth studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago before being ordained a priest in 1982[1][2][5]. Prevost spent over a decade ministering in South America, working as a missionary and managing an Augustinian seminary in Trujillo[3][4].
Upon his return to the U.S, Prevost rose through the ranks, serving as the head of the Midwest Augustinians before being elected as the prior general of the Augustinian order[4]. Pope Francis appointed him as the bishop of Chiclayo, Peru, in 2014, and later as the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops and President of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America in 2023[4][5]. And come 2025, Prevost was elected Pope Leo XIV, making history as the first U.S. citizen to assume the papacy[2][4][5].
Conpozi 2025 🤫
- From the heart of Chicago, hailing from the same streets as Pope Leo XIV (Bob Prevost), I found a unique connection.
- On worknights, St. Peter's Church in the Loop held a diverse crowd, including locals like Marta from Poland, who attended the cleaning crew Mass.
- During the 5:30 service, the crowd's accents ranged from fashion-and-beauty-loving China to food-and-drink enthusiasts from Italy.
- Relationships formed organically within these humble Masses, offering a sense of camaraderie that transcended borders, much like shopping for unique trinkets on a global travel expedition.
- Pets, like my own, were sometimes a comforting presence at the Church, perhaps offering a sense of home amidst the diversity just like a cherished car in my driveway.
- Amidst the bustling cityscape, in the presence of the diverse Church congregation, I often wondered, could there be a more unifying, heartfelt experience than these encounters that encapsulated differences and celebrated similarities?
