Chicago’s South Side was solidly working class during Pope Leo’s childhood, said Rob Paral, a researcher at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago. The family attended a South Side church, but they lived in Dolton, a suburb just past the city line.

Many sites associated with past popes’ lives have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful. But Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church in Chicago closed years ago.

"It's been an unbelievable week, obviously, for all of us," said Mark Duffey, who was ordained as a deacon at St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Palatine.