‘He's one of us': South Holland church celebrates bragging rights as Pope Leo XIV's de facto home parish
Lionor Zamora went to St. Mary of the Assumption Catholic Church for decades, sending all eight of her children there for school. She has lived in Dolton for more than 30 years and watched both her church close and people move out of the suburb she calls home.
The 84-year-old could not believe it when she heard that the new pope was from the same parish she belonged to for years. Her son was in the second grade when Robert Francis Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, was in eighth grade at St. Mary's school.
'To me, it was a miracle' she said, emphasizing how she got to go back inside the building of the former St. Mary of the Assumption Church. 'Something good came out of Dolton.'
She was one of more than 100 worshippers who attended Mass on Sunday at Christ Our Savior Catholic Church in South Holland — the church parishioners were sent to after St. Mary of the Assumption closed.
The archdiocese merged St. Mary of the Assumption with Queen of Apostles in Riverdale in 2011 to become the St. Mary, Queen of Apostles church. That parish merged with two others in 2019 to become Christ Our Savior, according to the Chicago Archdiocese.
As a result, Christ Our Savior has bragging rights as Prevost's childhood parish.
Indeed, Prevost's elevation to pope has also drawn people from outside the community to the South Holland church. The Rev. Gosbert Rwezahura, a pastor at Christ Our Savior, said that more than 40 people have visited the parish since Thursday, coming from places such as Des Plaines and Winnetka.
Some of the people who attended Mass on Sunday shared their small connections with the new pope, ranging from in-laws who lived across the street from the pope's childhood home to people who knew his family.
'I thought I was going to be in a grave before we got an American pope,' David M. Kilheeney said.
While Kilheeney said he didn't know the pope personally, the 66-year-old said he used to attend St. Mary of the Assumption. He believes he may have been blessed by Pope Leo back when he was a cardinal.
Dennis Peters, music director at Christ Our Savior, said he played music at a wedding that Pope Leo officiated for the daughter of a good friend of his named Gary, who passed away.
'When he was named pope, it struck a bell,' Peters said. But the connection did not hit him until Gary's son told Peters that he posted about the tight bond between his dad and the pope on Facebook.
'I know my friend Gary — he's going to be turning handstands in heaven,' Peters said.
Throughout both morning Masses, sunlight poured in through the stained glass windows at Christ Our Savior. It was business as usual for the most part, but church leaders also took the time to acknowledge Mother's Day — and the new pope.
'He is one of us,' Rwezahura said at the beginning of the 10:30 a.m. Mass to a crowd of a little more than a hundred people. Applause erupted.
Deacon Mel Stasinski made a similar acknowledgement, emphasizing that Pope Leo is not only from the area, but a White Sox fan.
'Go Sox!' one man in the audience at the 8:30 a.m. Mass yelled in response.
While the parishioners were praying and honoring Mother's Day, Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich made a public pitch for Leo to visit his hometown soon.
'It probably won't be the first one,' Cupich said during an appearance on CBS' 'Face the Nation.' 'But we're going to do some heavy lobbying for Chicago to be on the itinerary when he comes to the United States.'
Pope Benedict XVI traveled to his native Bavaria on this first international trip in 2006. Pope John Paul II made nine official trips to his Polish homeland and visited Chicago during his 1979 U.S. tour.
Pope Francis II traveled extensively during his tenure, but he never visited his native Argentina despite a stated desire to do so.
Dolton residents said that the news of Pope Leo has also been a source of pride for the suburb, which has been plagued with scandals, including federal investigations into former Mayor Tiffany Henyard, who recently lost a reelection bid to newly sworn-in Mayor Jason House.
'I'm on the Dolton group on Facebook and the St. Mary's group on Facebook and I've seen the comments, the people who have left Dolton who are like, 'It's no good. It's fallen,'' said Elva Zamora, one of Lionor's children. 'But now everybody's proud that they came from there, and it's like, 'Where were these comments 10 years ago?''
But now — like her mother — the 52-year-old hopes that Pope Leo's election can be a 'unifying moment' for a community that suffered political turmoil under its former mayor.
Since news of the pope broke, visitors have flocked to St. Mary of the Assumption to see the church Pope Leo grew up attending, which was an emotional feat for some of those who grew up attending that church. The church is in need of repair, but community members expressed hope that something will be done with the space to honor the legacy of Pope Leo.
'Even if they just have some little shiny looking thing, you know, a plaque or something, stating that this was the home church of the first American pope,' said Diane Sheeran, who used to teach religious education at St. Mary of the Assumption.
But regardless of what happens to the building, one thing is clear: The election of Pope Leo brings a new sense of pride for the parishioners of Christ Our Savior.
'It's got to be a shot in the arm,' Stasinski said. 'We're tucked away here on the South Side of Chicago and we've been experiencing a lot of merging parishes and so on. It's been tough on parishioners when they have to leave their parish and go to another when they get merged. And I think this gives a shot in the arm to everybody — they're proud of the parish.'
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