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Yahoo
21-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Village of Dolton intends to purchase Pope Leo's boyhood home, potentially blocking auction
DOLTON, Ill. - A national auction house is calling the site a 'piece of papal history'—but there is a caveat for prospective buyers looking to purchase Pope Leo XIV's boyhood home. The Village of Dolton, on Tuesday, announced plans to acquire the house through eminent domain laws. What we know The homeowner—and any potential buyers—may have little control over the home's fate. Under Illinois law, the village has first dibs on the property through eminent domain, according to Attorney Burt Odelson who represents the Village of Dolton. Eminent domain refers to the government's power and ability to take private property for public purposes. The Village of Dolton has the right to purchase the home at 'fair market value'—even if another buyer is willing to pay a higher price. Dig deeper Life before the Vatican for the world's first American pope began in the Village of Dolton, "which is kind of cool," Odelson added. The exact address of Robert Francis Prevost's boyhood home is 212 East 141st Place. Paramount Realty USA, the auction firm that will be accepting bids on the home next month, states that the brick house was owned by the Prevost family for nearly 50 years. The 3-bedroom, 3-bathroom house built in 1949 measures 1,050 square feet, while the lot is just under 5,000 square feet. What they're saying The Village of Dolton hopes to honor Pope Leo XIV's past after taking ownership of the home. "We will do what the archdiocese thinks is best to preserve the home so that everybody, not just in Dolton or the South suburbs, but worldwide can come to his home," Odelson said. Following an influx of visitors, Dolton police squads are regularly stationed outside the pope's childhood home. Neighbors, like Donna Sagna Davis, who lives next door, have greeted many of those pilgrims. "From France, from Italy," Sagna Davis said. "You know, people are coming and praying, touching the house to be healed, I saw a young lady do that." Odelson says the current owner purchased the home for roughly $66,000 before realizing the significance it would soon carry. It was renovated this year before going on the market. "It was on the market for $199,000 and then Pope Leo was made pope, and he took it off the market. And then there was silence," Odelson explained. Odelson says over the last several days, the house made its way onto Paramount Realty USA's auction site. According to the listing, bids will be accepted starting June 18, but a letter Odelson issued on Tuesday—addressed to Mr. Misha Haghani, the CEO and founder of Paramount Realty USA—could stall the sale before it ever hits the auction block. "My letter changes everything. They have to give their prospective buyers notice that there's an intervening party here who takes priority, and that's us. That's the Village of Dolton," Odelson said. While exact plans are still in the early stages, the village is working with the Chicago Archdiocese to turn the home into a historic site. "And look at Dolton, it's gone from hell to heaven," Odelson said. "We have a great mayor and a great board. It's going to take a lot to turn it around, but we will do that. And here's the first step—divine intervention." It is also a welcome vision for residents like Sagna Davis. "It fit right with me, because I am a person who loves God and spends a lot of time in prayer," Sagna Davis said. "Public use is definitely necessary." What's next FOX 32 Chicago has been in contact with the home's realtor, who tells us he is connecting with his client (the homeowner) prior to issuing a statement in response to Odelson's letter. In the meantime, the Village of Dolton is moving forward with plans to dedicate 141st Place (between Indiana Avenue and Manor Avenue) as Honorary Pope Leo XIV Place. The resolution received unanimous approval from village trustees on Monday evening. Mayor Jason House has not yet announced a date for the dedication ceremony. The Source The facts in this story were gathered through listing materials, including a brochure provided by Paramount Realty USA, and an interview with Attorney Burt Odelson.
New York Times
16-05-2025
- New York Times
A Century-Old Romance That Gave the Pope His Family Name
The more that Americans learn about Pope Leo XIV and all his complex, diverse family history, the more they see themselves. One set of genealogists uncovered that on his mother's side of the family, Pope Leo descended from Creole people of color from New Orleans, a discovery that thrilled residents of that city who felt a connection to the first American pope. Now, another story on a different side of the pope's family has emerged. Genealogists have found that his paternal grandparents in Chicago were once accused of a charge that might seem prudish now: A century before Robert Prevost became the pope, his grandparents were arrested for 'unbecoming conduct,' a story that was breathlessly covered in the gossipy, sensationalist newspapers of the late 1910s. The press called it 'an illicit affair' that had morphed into a love triangle. Newspaper articles and other public records show that the pope's grandfather, Salvatore Giovanni Riggitano, was married to another woman while accused of having a relationship with Suzanne Fontaine, who later became the pope's grandmother. Mr. Riggitano and Ms. Fontaine would eventually take the surname Prevost from Ms. Fontaine's mother, starting a new family whose lineage now leads directly to Vatican City. The story of Pope Leo's grandparents, European immigrants who found love and a brush with the law in Chicago, is incomplete and somewhat murky. But public records give a glimpse into what happened, beginning in their home countries of Italy and France, and eventually tracing to the pope, who will be formally installed as pontiff in Rome on Sunday. A group of online genealogists, the Genealogy Discord, released a report on Thursday revealing the background of the pope's grandparents and how their names and lives shifted over time. Mr. Riggitano was born June 24, 1876, in Sicily, Italy, records show. He moved to the United States soon after the turn of the 20th century and became a teacher, described in newspapers as a highly educated man with an unusually sharp intellect who taught music and languages. Mr. Riggitano taught Spanish for a time at a high school in Quincy, Ill., then a small town of 35,000 people on the Mississippi River about 300 miles southwest of Chicago. He also worked in Chicago, newspapers reported. 'For two winters in Chicago he has been engaged as a teacher by the 'Lovers of Italy,' a fashionable club which studies the Italian language, art and history, and which is composed of many of the wealthiest and most prominent women in Chicago,' the Quincy Journal reported in 1908. In 1914, Mr. Riggitano, then 37, married a woman named Daisy Hughes in Chicago. But by March 1917, the Quincy Daily Herald had turned to covering another aspect of Mr. Riggitano's life. 'Riggitano in Triangle,' the headline read. According to the article, Mr. Riggitano and Ms. Fontaine were arrested at the prompting of Ms. Hughes, who had reported to the police that he was inappropriately entangled with Ms. Fontaine. 'Both declare innocence of the charge made against them by the wife of Riggitano and that it is all merely a case of jealousy that has no reason for existence,' the Quincy Daily Herald reported on March 26, 1917. By then, Mr. Riggitano and Ms. Hughes were living apart. Online genealogists said on Thursday that Ms. Fontaine, who is sometimes identified in records as Ms. Fabre or Ms. Fountan, then went to Canada, later Detroit and eventually Lackawanna, N.Y., where she gave birth on July 23, 1917, to a boy she named John Centi Prevost — using her mother's family name. That boy would eventually become the pope's uncle. Ms. Fontaine and Mr. Riggitano would also take the surname Prevost, and Mr. Riggitano would adopt the Americanized version of his middle name, John. Ms. Fontaine returned to Chicago and in 1920 had another baby boy, Louis Prevost, the father of Pope Leo. It was not clear from available records whether Mr. Riggitano divorced Ms. Hughes, or whether he and Ms. Fontaine married. But a death notice in 1960 made clear that the union was deep and lasting. The notice for John Prevost, formerly Mr. Riggitano, called him a 'devoted husband of Suzanne,' a loving father of John C. and Louis M. and a grandfather of three. The death notice for Mrs. Prevost, formerly Ms. Fontaine, in 1979 notes that she died in a hospital in Detroit at the age of 83, and that she was a member of the Third Order of Carmelites, a Roman Catholic religious order of laypeople. She was a 'fond grandmother of Louis, John and Robert Prevost,' the notice said.
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Meet Pope Leo XIV's Brothers, John and Louis Prevost
With the election of Pope Leo XIV as the head of the Catholic church, all eyes turned to his family. The youngest son of Louis and Mildred Prevost, Pope Leo has two older brothers: John Joseph Prevost and Louis Martín Prevost. Both brothers have spoken to national media in the aftermath of Pope Leo's election—here's a bit about them, and their reaction to this week's news: John, 71, is a retired educator and school principal. He lives in New Lenox, a suburb of Chicago. He recently revealed to the press that he and his brother, now Pope Leo, play Wordle and Words with Friends daily, engaging in the competition even in the lead up to the conclave. 'First we do Wordle 'cause this is a regular thing, then we do Words with Friends,' John told NBC News. 'It's something to keep his mind off life in the real world. And then we talk about what's going on and I said, 'Well, do you have your red socks?' That doesn't go over well all the time. And then just that kind of stuff.' They also talk on the phone every day, which John told the Associated Press he's worried will change now that his brother is Pope. 'It's already strange not having someone to talk to,' he said. Louis, the oldest Prevost son, currently lives in Port Charlotte, Florida. He's married, to wife Deborah Prevost. He served in the Navy, just as their father did. 'I thought I had done traveling in the Navy, but, my God, he blew me away,' Louis said of his younger brother. 'We talked a little bit about it and I said you know what happens if you win? If they vote for you, are you going to accept it?' Louis recalls asking his brother before the conclave. '[He said] 'I will accept it; it's God's will; it's in his hands.'' He added he's worried about what comes next. 'That's the hardest part — all day I've been like — I wonder if we'll actually be able to see him again and be with him — and shake his hand and hug him. Yeah I'm the pope's brother, but it's hard to get in to see the pope.' You Might Also Like 12 Weekend Getaway Spas For Every Type of Occasion 13 Beauty Tools to Up Your At-Home Facial Game
Yahoo
10-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Pope Leo XIV's brother tells Cuomo what he's like as a human
Louis Prevost, the older brother of Pope Leo XIV, joins 'CUOMO' to discuss his reaction to his brother being elected leader of the Catholic Church and what the world needs to know about the pontiff. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
New York Times
10-05-2025
- General
- New York Times
Pope Leo XIV's Creole Roots Tell a Story of New Orleans
One day in June 1900, a census taker visited the New Orleans home of Joseph and Louise Martinez, Pope Leo XIV's grandparents. They lived on North Prieur Street, just north of the French Quarter, a neighborhood considered the cradle of Louisiana's Creole people of color. Joseph N. Martinez was recorded as a Black man, born in 'Hayti.' His wife, two daughters and an aunt, were also marked 'B' in a column denoting 'color or race.' Ten years later, the census came knocking again. The family had grown — there were six daughters now. Other things changed, too: Mr. Martinez's place of birth was listed this time as Santo Domingo, capital of the Dominican Republic. And the family's race is recorded as 'W,' for white. That simple switch, from 'B' to 'W,' suggests a complex, and very American, story. For much of the 19th century, New Orleans operated under a racial system that distinguished among white people, Black people and mixed-race Creole people like the Martinezes. But by the early 20th century, Jim Crow was the order of the day, and it tended to deal in black and white, with myriad restrictions imposed upon any person of color. The selection of Robert Frances Prevost as the first pope from the United States, and the subsequent revelation of his Creole roots, have brought those historical realities to the fore — and an interview with the pope's brother John Prevost, 71, connected them to the present day. The couple moved to Chicago and in 1912 had a daughter who would become the pope's mother. Ill. He married in New Orleans in 1877. He and his wife would have many children. La. The pope's grandfather could have been born in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Louisiana. Dominican Republic Haiti The couple moved to Chicago and in 1912 had a daughter who would become the pope's mother. Ill. He married in New Orleans in 1877. He and his wife would have many children. La. The pope's grandfather could have been born in Haiti, the Dominican Republic or Louisiana. Dominican Republic Haiti Elena Shao/The New York Times Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
