Pope Leo XIV: Holy Name Cathedral to host special Mass for new pontiff

CHICAGO – Hundreds will gather in Chicago this morning at a special Mass to celebrate the election of Pope Leo XIV.

The Mass of Thanksgiving will take place at 8 a.m. at Holy Name Cathedral on the city’s Near North Side.

Lawrence J. Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, will preside over the ceremony as the main homilist. The Mass will be streamed live in the media player at the top of this story.

Chicago celebrates Pope XIV

Local perspective:

Robert Prevost, 69, was chosen Thursday as the Catholic Church’s new leader following a 25-hour papal conclave.

He was born in Chicago and has extensive ties to the community. 

His mother was a librarian at Mendel Catholic High School in the Roseland neighborhood, where he eventually started his teaching career.

Pope Leo XIV graduated from the city’s Catholic Theological Union and served as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago between stints in Peru.

He made his way back to his hometown, where, in 1999, he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago.

Local leaders showed their support for Pope XIV on Thursday following his election.

Brother of Pope XIV reacts

What they’re saying:

John Prevost, brother of Pope Leo XIV, spoke with FOX 32 on Thursday evening, sharing his pride and reflecting on his brother’s historic election.

“There are no words. It’s overwhelming pride, but it’s also overwhelming responsibility being the first American pope, from Chicago, and a relative,” he said. 

The past of Pope Leo XIV

The backstory:

Prevost was born on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Mathematics from Villanova University in 1977 before taking his solemn vows and studying theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in 1982.

By 1985 he joined the Augustinian mission in Peru, where he served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas for one year.

Between 1987 and 1988, he returned to the U.S., where he served as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago, before he returned to Peru for another 10 years to head the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teach Cannon Law.

Eventually, he made his way back to his hometown, where, in 1999, he was elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago.

Prevost was twice elected prior general, or top leader, of the Augustinians, the 13th century religious order founded by St. Augustine. Francis clearly had an eye on him for years, moving him from the Augustinian leadership back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and later archbishop of Chiclayo.

He remained in that position, acquiring Peruvian citizenship in 2015, until Francis brought him to Rome in 2023 to assume the presidency of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America. In that job he would have kept in regular contact with the Catholic hierarchy in the part of the world that counts the most Catholics.

Pope Francis brought Robert 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. On Thursday, he ascended to become Pope Leo XIV — the first American pontiff.