Pope Leo XIV was born in Chicago, grew up in south suburban Dolton, and attended the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in city's Hyde Park neighborhood. Mildred Prevost was born in Chicago and worked as a librarian at Von Steuben and Mendel Catholic high schools.

Pope Leo XIV is busy in his first full week of work in the Vatican, but will he consider making a trip home to Chicago in the near future?

In his first days as pope, Leo XIV has struck many as an unassuming man of quiet warmth and deeply rooted identity. A visit to the part of Chicago where the first American Pontiff was raised gives an idea of how he got that way.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said he expects Pope Leo XIV "feels an obligation," to speak to what he called the issues of the day, amid "real challenges globally."

Chicagoans celebrated the historic election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the U.S. and a Chicago native, with joy and hope for a renewed focus on social justice and unity within the Catholic Church.

Peruvians have celebrated the election of a man many knew as a missionary and bishop during his 2 decades of service in the South American country.

A Midwesterner, like the new Pope Leo XIV, Burger swelled with pride and saw a little opportunity for motivation. “Basically, I kind of thought: New Pope, new me,” Burger said Wednesday night. “He’s a Midwestern guy like me. I was proud. And since he’s been elected Pope, we’ve been rather hot.”

Amid the mostly joyous reception for Robert Prevost, who stunned the world when he emerged from the loggia of St. Peter’s as Pope Leo XIV, one cloud on his reputation came from groups alleging that he had mishandled sexual abuse cases.