CHICAGO: After white smoke billowed Thursday from the Sistine Chapel, signaling {that a} pope had been chosen, college students in each classroom at The Frances Xavier Warde College in Chicago had their eyes glued to TV screens. Because the picture of the brand new pope, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, appeared onscreen, cheers erupted by means of the hallways. Youngsters jumped out of their seats, pumping their fingers within the air. “Our college students are simply beside themselves,” stated Mary Perrotti, director of development on the faculty. “They’re past excited and may’t imagine a Chicagoan is their new pope. They had been in awe.” Prevost, 69, took the title Leo XIV and changed Pope Francis, who died final month. The primary American elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV was born and raised in Chicago earlier than endeavor his ministry in Peru. Catholic Chicagoans gathered in church buildings and celebrated from their houses because the historic choice was introduced. “Our younger folks have a mannequin now of a pacesetter with justice and compassion on the coronary heart of his ministries – and who’s from their house,” Perrotti stated. “It is such a deep feeling of connection for them.” Prevost was born in 1955 within the south aspect Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville and grew up in suburban Dolton, close to St. Mary of the Assumption, the place he attended Mass and elementary faculty. He later studied theology on the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in Hyde Park and taught in native Catholic faculties, together with at St. Rita Excessive College, in keeping with the college. “We’re overjoyed that somebody who’s beloved and identified to us is now the beloved chief of the entire total church,” stated Barbara Reid, a Dominican sister and president of the Catholic Theological Union. Classmates replicate on new pope’s hometown connection John Doughney, a fellow St. Mary’s grade faculty graduate from 1969, remembers Prevost as a “good friend to everybody” and a “variety, caring, compassionate younger man.” “Even when he was 12 and 13, it was obvious to all of us that he knew what his calling was,” he stated. “It will’ve shocked all of us if he did not go into the priesthood. We’re so happy with him.” Linda Eickmann, 62, was additionally born and raised in Dolton and attended St. Mary’s. When she noticed the information of the brand new pope on TV, she screamed with pleasure. “How cool is that?” she stated. “A pope from my elementary faculty, from my city. It is unreal.” Eickmann remembered Prevost’s household as being so deeply concerned within the St. Mary’s neighborhood that everybody knew their names. They ran sloppy joe gross sales to boost cash for the college, and all their sons had been altar boys, together with Prevost. Raul Raymundo, co-founder of a area people advocacy group known as the Resurrection Challenge, stated Thursday was a proud day for Chicagoans and he hoped Pope Leo XIV will “proceed Pope Francis’ legacy and Chicago’s legacy of social justice and compassion, particularly in welcoming immigrants.” “There’s tears of pleasure, of hope, of motivation to rise to this second and depart this world higher than we discovered it,” stated Raymundo, an immigrant from Mexico who grew up in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood. Chicagoans collect in church buildings, share memes to have a good time Pope Leo XIV At Holy Title Cathedral, about two dozen folks gathered to hope as mild filtered in by means of the stained glass home windows. Kneeling in a pew, Laurel Legler stated she is not Catholic and even Christian however felt she needed to be there after the brand new American pope’s election was introduced. She known as it a “profound second.” Zoe Poehlman, a nurse who moved from Kansas Metropolis to Chicago a couple of months in the past, described the temper as thrilling and hopes there might be citywide celebrations. “It was simply so loopy,” she stated. Father Gregory Sakowicz, the cathedral’s rector, stated that when the brand new pope was introduced, the solar got here out – a coincidence he described as “God’s method of remaining nameless.” He stated he was “fortunately shocked,” and that he had a burning query: Whether or not the brand new Pope was a White Sox fan? When a journalist within the crowd stated she’d heard Pope Leo XIV is a Cubs fan, Sakowicz chuckled. “God bless him,” he stated. It seems he is a Sox fan. On social media, folks swapped memes about Chicago staples – deep-dish and tavern-style pizza, the Chicago liqueur Malort and baseball, reflecting the civic pleasure of Chicago residents as they claimed the pope as certainly one of their very own. Google search visitors for “Da Pope” skyrocketed, and an area T-shirt firm introduced it will promote “Da Pope” shirts with a blue-and-orange Bears-themed design. Chicagoans overlayed Chicago Bulls intro music to video of the pope exiting the Vatican. Some joked about changing communion wafers and wine with tavern-style pizza and Malort. And the Chicago quick meals chain Portillo’s jested about transport its Italian beef to Vatican Metropolis. Many customers additionally proclaimed hope the brand new pope would characterize Chicago’s historical past of social justice. “For Catholic Chicagoans, to have a local son who has been born and raised in a metropolis the place help and care of all has all the time been central to who we’re as a metropolis, it actually speaks volumes,” Perrotti stated. “I really imagine his upbringing in Chicago informs his ministries, his compassion and sense of justice. Now, he can provide the world a way of who we’re as a metropolis.”
