‘A better chance at winning the lottery': Chicago-area man discovers he owns Pope Leo's childhood home
This week, Chicago-area realtor Steve Budzik received an 'unbelievable' phone call from a reporter about a property he was selling.
That reporter called Budzik to ask about a quaint home in Dolton, Illinois, half an hour from downtown Chicago. A home, Budzik said, that Pope Leo XIV grew up in.
'When the first reporter called me with the news…I was, at first, taken aback,' Budzik told The Independent on Saturday afternoon. 'I didn't see it on any news channel, so I was almost like, 'is this a joke?''
But it wasn't a joke. The 1300-square-foot, Cape-Cod-style brick house on a tree-lined street is indeed the first American Pope's childhood home.
'I immediately called my client, who said the same thing: 'Are you joking? Come on, stop messing around,'' Budzik recounted. 'I'm like, 'No, this is real.''
'We were both equally super taken aback,' he added. 'You have a better chance at winning the lottery than having this opportunity come to you. We were both shocked and just really blown away.'
Pope Leo XIV, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, was elected Thursday night as the 267th pontiff, following four rounds of voting during the conclave. The 69-year-old was born in Chicago and graduated from Villanova University, a private Catholic school in Pennsylvania.
The three-bedroom, two-bathroom home last sold in May 2024 for $66,000, It's unclear exactly when Pope Leo lived in the home, but his family owned it from the year he was born until 1996, when he was 41 and working as a missionary in Peru.
Budzik's client, who is a real estate investor and has never lived in the home, took it off the market Thursday.
'He just wants to really look at all of his different options, including trying to get in contact with Pope Leo's brother, who is local to where both of us live in New Lenox, and seeing if there's anything that you know the family would like to see done with the property,' Budzik said of his client.
Pope Leo's brother John Prevost lives in New Lenox, Illinois, just 30 minutes away from his childhood home. He said he couldn't believe it when his brother was announced as the new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide.
'I was in this moment of disbelief that this cannot be possible because it's too far from what we thought would happen," he told NBC News.
Now, the home's owner is faced with a difficult choice, but he's weighing a few options.
'Should it be a museum, should it be a historical landmark?' Should it just be resold? What are the options, and what does everybody really want to see done with this house?' Budzik said.
'We're just really excited and embracing it,' Budzik added.
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