Latest news with #St.Mary
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Daywatch: Democrats walk a fine line on criminal justice legislation
Good morning, Chicago. Criminal justice reform has long been one of the most divisive issues between Democrats who control the Illinois General Assembly and the Republican minority. But it's also created a split between progressive Democrats and party moderates, who walk a fine line as they seek to avoid being labeled as weak on crime during the next election cycle. The intra-party differences have been on display in the final weeks of the spring legislative session as lawmakers have considered bills aimed at giving a chance at freedom to people serving lengthy prison sentences for crimes committed when they were youths and dropping a requirement that inmates serve a significant percentage of their original sentence. Last month, the divide left House Democrats unable to pass legislation that would have provided additional resentencing options for people convicted of committing crimes when they were under 21. It was a rare instance of a Democratic bill failing after being called to a floor vote. Read the full story from the Tribune's Jeremy Gorner. Here are the top stories you need to know to start your day, including: what Mayor Brandon Johnson has battled during two years in office, who's in the race to succeed US Rep. Jan Schakowsky and a White Sox fan quiz for Pope Leo XIV. Today's eNewspaper edition | Subscribe to more newsletters | Asking Eric | Horoscopes | Puzzles & Games | Today in History U.S. and Chinese officials said today they had reached a deal to roll back most of their recent tariffs and call a 90-day truce in their trade war for more talks on resolving their trade disputes. U.S. Trade Representative Jamieson Greer said the U.S. agreed to drop its 145% tariff rate on Chinese goods by 115 percentage points to 30%, while China agreed to lower its rate on U.S. goods by the same amount to 10%. 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 school. 'To me, it was a miracle' she said. 'Something good came out of Dolton.' Pope Leo XIV's boyhood home in Dolton was on the market until Thursday. What comes next for the house? Pope Leo XIV: What to know about Chicago-born Robert Prevost As Catholics and media professionals across the world flood the south suburbs to learn the man behind Robert Prevost, the cemeteries where Prevost's close relatives reside remained peaceful locations of remembrance. Pope Leo XIV calls for peace in Ukraine and Gaza, and offers a Happy Mother's Day Pope Leo XIV urges release of imprisoned journalists, affirms gift of free speech and press Though the harsh spotlight on Mayor Brandon Johnson's office on the fifth floor is nothing new, some of the thorniest issues the former Chicago Teachers Union organizer has battled in his second year have come from unexpected fronts: education, and the city's political left. Mayor Brandon Johnson on the record: The full Tribune interview as he hits 2 years in office A day after U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky told hundreds of people at a swanky downtown Chicago hotel that she wasn't running for reelection, the first major declared 9th Congressional District candidate sat cross-legged in her new Rogers Park campaign headquarters, painting an image of a lava lamp on the wall. Kat Abughazaleh, a 26-year-old newcomer to the Chicago region who is banking on her blunt messaging and massive online following to earn her a place on Capitol Hill, might have been the first to announce she was running for the congressional seat — even before the 80-year-old Schakowsky said she wouldn't run again. But Abughazaleh won't be the last. The town of Ottawa lies in central Illinois 12 miles from a nuclear power plant and a wind turbine farm that stretches past the horizon. However, these facilities sit on the other side of an invisible boundary between two regional power grids. Video evidence of the Chicago-born pope, Robert Prevost, at 2005 World Series games certifies the claim his brother, John, made that Pope Leo XIV is indeed a White Sox fan. Paul Sullivan writes that if we take it as gospel that the pope roots for the South Siders, the next step is to find out what exactly kind of Sox fan he is. Vintage Chicago Tribune: Nancy Faust's White Sox memories, from Harry Caray to 'Na Na Hey Hey Goodbye' 3-run home run by Tim Elko lifts White Sox to 4-2 victory — and series win — against Miami Marlins Chicago's Union Station has borne witness to the gamut of emotions, its cavernous waiting room echoing with everything from raucous laughter to profound despair ever since the first train arrived there 100 years ago this month. The first time Mark Howard appeared on 'The Tonight Show With Johnny Carson' was in 1989. Howard had been coaching teams to victory at the world championships for Irish step dancing — the first Americans to take home that trophy — and Carson took notice. As drivers on Interstate 88 zoom past the Morton Arboretum in the western suburb of Lisle, they can now glimpse a new creature overlooking the highway on the hill where Joe the Guardian, a giant wooden troll, previously stood watch from 2018 to 2021.
Yahoo
12-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Pope Leo XIV's family gravesites in Glenwood, Alsip receive virtual visitors
As Catholics and media professionals across the world flood the south suburbs to learn the man behind Robert Prevost, the cemeteries where Prevost's close relatives reside remained peaceful locations of remembrance Friday afternoon. The humble stones at Glenwood's 193-acre Assumption Cemetery marking where Mildred and Louis Maurius Prevost were laid to rest in 1990 and 1997, respectively, stood out only in their tidiness. Grass was carefully swept away from the cross sat above each name, with small groupings of delicately crafted wooden roses topping each grave. Equally well cared for about 20 miles away at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, was a similarly modest grave for John Prevost, Robert Prevost's grandfather who died in 1960. The Prevost's family legacy forever changed last week, when Robert, known as 'Bob' to many close to him, took the name Pope Leo XIV. The online obituaries on Mildred and Louis' Find A Grave pages were quickly edited to tie them to their son, the new Catholic leader. Dozens of virtual flowers have been added since Thursday's announcement of Prevost's selection as pope. While Assumption and Holy Sepulchre's offices didn't report large changes for in-person visits to the graves, a spokesperson for Catholic Cemetaries emphasized that taking photos or video of any graves is prohibited. Those looking to pay respects to Pope Leo XIV's family members in the south suburbs are asked not to disturb other mourners. Meanwhile, many aim to learn more about the Prevost family through archives and affiliations. Louis Prevost was of French and Italian descent and Mildred of Spanish descent. The couple's lives were grounded in religious faith, with Mildred being a librarian at schools such as St. Mary of the Assumption Grade School and Mendel High School. She also served as president of the Mendel Catholic High School Mothers Club. The mother of three sons, Louis Martín, John Joseph and Robert, with two sisters who became nuns, Mildred Prevost obtained a graduate degree from DePaul University's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in February 1947 and a master's degree in education in 1949. According to an obituary featured on Find A Grave, Mildred and Louis moved to Dolton in the late 1940s. Louis Prevost, who is from Homewood, received a degree from Woodrow Wilson Junior College in June 1940, according to the Tribune archives, as well as a master of arts from DePaul University nine years later. Prevost served in World War II between college stints and later become superintendent of Bloom Township Elementary District 169 and Glenwood Elementary District 167, whose quaint district office is only a mile from where he and his wife were laid to rest. Louis Prevost's Find A Grave information includes a news clipping with a photo of Prevost shaking hands with a former president of the now closed Burnside Construction company after he received a deed to 6 acres for Glenwood schools. More recently posted were photos of him and his sons, pointing out the first American pope. Images of the actual gravestones were added in previous years. ostevens@
Chicago Tribune
12-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
Pope Leo XIV's family gravesites in Glenwood, Alsip receive virtual visitors
As Catholics and media professionals across the world flood the south suburbs to learn the man behind Robert Prevost, the cemeteries where Prevost's close relatives reside remained peaceful locations of remembrance Friday afternoon. The humble stones at Glenwood's 193-acre Assumption Cemetery marking where Mildred and Louis Maurius Prevost were laid to rest in 1990 and 1997, respectively, stood out only in their tidiness. Grass was carefully swept away from the cross sat above each name, with small groupings of delicately crafted wooden roses topping each grave. Equally well cared for about 20 miles away at Holy Sepulchre Cemetery in Alsip, was a similarly modest grave for John Prevost, Robert Prevost's grandfather who died in 1960. The Prevost's family legacy forever changed last week, when Robert, known as 'Bob' to many close to him, took the name Pope Leo XIV. The online obituaries on Mildred and Louis' Find A Grave pages were quickly edited to tie them to their son, the new Catholic leader. Dozens of virtual flowers have been added since Thursday's announcement of Prevost's selection as pope. While Assumption and Holy Sepulchre's offices didn't report large changes for in-person visits to the graves, a spokesperson for Catholic Cemetaries emphasized that taking photos or video of any graves is prohibited. Those looking to pay respects to Pope Leo XIV's family members in the south suburbs are asked not to disturb other mourners. Meanwhile, many aim to learn more about the Prevost family through archives and affiliations. Louis Prevost was of French and Italian descent and Mildred of Spanish descent. The couple's lives were grounded in religious faith, with Mildred being a librarian at schools such as St. Mary of the Assumption Grade School and Mendel High School. She also served as president of the Mendel Catholic High School Mothers Club. The mother of three sons, Louis Martín, John Joseph and Robert, with two sisters who became nuns, Mildred Prevost obtained a graduate degree from DePaul University's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences in February 1947 and a master's degree in education in 1949. According to an obituary featured on Find A Grave, Mildred and Louis moved to Dolton in the late 1940s. Louis Prevost, who is from Homewood, received a degree from Woodrow Wilson Junior College in June 1940, according to the Tribune archives, as well as a master of arts from DePaul University nine years later. Prevost served in World War II between college stints and later become superintendent of Bloom Township Elementary District 169 and Glenwood Elementary District 167, whose quaint district office is only a mile from where he and his wife were laid to rest. Louis Prevost's Find A Grave information includes a news clipping with a photo of Prevost shaking hands with a former president of the now closed Burnside Construction company after he received a deed to 6 acres for Glenwood schools. More recently posted were photos of him and his sons, pointing out the first American pope. Images of the actual gravestones were added in previous years.
Miami Herald
11-05-2025
- General
- Miami Herald
How the new Pope Leo XIV's childhood church in Chicago fell into disrepair - and what may lie ahead
CHICAGO - Above the door of the church in the last blocks of Chicago, the Virgin Mary still stands with her arms wide open. The double doors beneath the statue's feet are shut, but a disintegrating wooden side door swings freely, leading to a set of stairs with chipped paint scattered on them. Above, a pool of blue light from a stained-glass window illuminates a balcony where the St. Mary of the Assumption Church choir - including a young boy who would later become the first American-born pope - once sang. Antoinette Nuzzo stepped inside the sanctuary recently, took a look around and thought out loud: "Wow, they took a lot of stuff out of here." Nuzzo, 71, had not been inside St. Mary's since the church's final Mass in the summer of 2011. But she came back Thursday to see what remained of the old sanctuary because it is where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, began his formal religious journey. The rail where Nuzzo knelt for her first communion as a fourth-grader was gone. The front of the sanctuary where Prevost first served the Catholic Church as an altar boy was covered with two pink and orange graffiti murals, the result of neglect after a series of closures and downsizing ordered by the Archdiocese of Chicago, which sold the parish property in 2019. An alcove that once held a statue is now empty and spray-painted with the words "Oh My God." Nuzzo wondered if the religious sculpture went to the still-operational Christ Our Savior church in South Holland, which absorbed many former St. Mary's parishioners. Many others made the same trip in Leo's first hours as pope, wanting to feel a connection with the South Sider who had just appeared in papal regalia on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. They posed for pictures outside the building and walked gingerly around the crumbling interior, agog that the first American to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics could have roots there. And in doing so, they may have been the site's first unofficial pilgrims. The Chicago area does not lack for holy Catholic sites. The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in northwest suburban Des Plaines draws thousands of pilgrims for La Virgen's feast day every December. The Shrine of All Saints in Morton Grove bills itself as the second-largest collection of relics in North America. But becoming the hometown of the first American pope could bring crowds on a different order of magnitude to the south suburbs and the city's South Side. Many sites associated with past popes' lives and upbringings have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful, and papacy-themed tourism more broadly often flowers in popes' hometowns. Benedict XVI's birthplace in Germany and John Paul II's old family home in Poland are both now museums, and themed tours of the cities where they spent parts of their lives abound on the internet. The grand basilica where Pope Francis was baptized in Buenos Aires has become a popular stop for tour groups, as well. People who gathered outside the abandoned St. Mary of the Assumption on Thursday mused about what the future might hold for Pope Leo XIV's childhood church, given its new significance. "If he was baptized here, it's a historic place," said Oak Lawn resident Steve Ligda. "I bet (the archdiocese) wishes they didn't close it now." Aaron Hollander, a scholar of theology and culture based in New York, said it made sense for people to spontaneously come out to the church as they sought a sense of connection to the new pope. But the site's religious status in the long term still remains to be seen. "It will depend in part on what Pope Leo does and what he becomes and how his relationship with the faithful changes over time," he said. Hollander said it's likely there may be a push to formalize the site's status as a destination but cautioned that there was no way to predict the intensity of organizing or the official response from the archdiocese. Emily Crews, a scholar of religious life at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said it would be "fascinating" to observe whether St. Mary's or Leo's childhood home, a few blocks away on the 200 block of East141st Place in Dolton, draw religious tourists or pilgrims given their newfound significance to the history of the church. A key factor will be whether the archdiocese would buy either the church or the home, she said. A spokesperson for the archdiocese said there were no plans to repurchase the old parish property and couldn't comment on the future of the pope's childhood home.. So the future of the church remains unclear. 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. The archdiocese spokesperson said the new congregation was placed at the Riverdale church building because it was in better condition. That congregation merged with two others in 2019 to become Christ Our Savior, according to the archdiocese. Cook County tax records show the archdiocese sold the St. Mary of the Assumption property - which encompasses the church itself, the school, convent, rectory and annex - to a company called Eugene Benjamin Properties in 2019 for just under $250,000. Then the property was sold again in 2022 to the South Side-based JBlendz Holdings, records show. JBlendz Holdings bills itself online as a telecommunication infrastructure maintenance company. One of the company's owners, Joe Hall, fielded questions from reporters Thursday afternoon on the cracked front walk as people trickled in and out, taking smartphone photos. Asked why the site has stood apparently untouched since it changed hands three years ago, Hall cited a series of weather-related setbacks. He said his ambition was to renovate the five buildings on the parcel for community development uses, including a food pantry, and to get it equipped with free Wi-Fi. Hall said he had planned to keep the church building itself as a space of worship. But he acknowledged that the news from Vatican City might scramble the rest. "Whatever plan we thought we had, it's all been changed in the last few hours," he said. That said, he added, he would not sell or lease the property "unless it had anything to do with the pope, period." Late on Thursday, Dolton Village Trustee Stanley Brown took in the church's facade from beneath his black cap. He'd passed by the building for years, he said. And he was chuffed to know that it suddenly had a place in the history of the Catholic Church, particularly after the village had weathered years of political turmoil. "For all the things we've been going through, (God) sent us the pope here in Dolton," he said. "So that is a blessing." It was early evening by the time Laura Mathews traipsed through the building in her neon crossing-guard vest and reflective sunglasses. Every few steps, she'd shout, "I remember this!" Mathews, 71, remembered wearing the blue and white jumper uniform as an elementary student at St. Mary's, and trying to stay out of the way of one particular nun, Sister Cecilia. She said she'd never forget the thunderstorm the night of her first communion. She recalled glaring at the crucifix the first Easter after her mother died. As a young woman, she quit going to church and questioned her faith. Eventually, she said, she came back around. Nuzzo reminisced about the white dress and the hat with flowers she'd worn for her first communion. They both remembered the pope's parents, a school superintendent and a librarian, reading in front of the congregation, and picnics on the back lawn and carnivals in the parking lot. They remembered where the baby room had been and where the rosaries had been kept. Looking around for the first time in 14 years, they saw the stained glass had largely survived. The place was gutted. The air smelled like must. But looking up at the windows, the friends were amazed by how much - including the memories - remained. (Chicago Tribune reporter A. D. Quig contributed.) --- Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Chicago Tribune
10-05-2025
- General
- Chicago Tribune
How the new Pope Leo XIV's childhood church in Chicago fell into disrepair — and what may lie ahead
Above the door of the church in the last blocks of Chicago, the Virgin Mary still stands with her arms wide open. The double doors beneath the statue's feet are shut, but a disintegrating wooden side door swings freely, leading to a set of stairs with chipped paint scattered on them. Above, a pool of blue light from a stained-glass window illuminates a balcony where the St. Mary of the Assumption Church choir — including a young boy who would later become the first American-born pope — once sang. Antoinette Nuzzo stepped inside the sanctuary earlier this week, took a look around and thought out loud: 'Wow, they took a lot of stuff out of here.' Nuzzo, 71, had not been inside St. Mary's since the church's final Mass in the summer of 2011. But she came back Thursday to see what remained of the old sanctuary because it is where Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, began his formal religious journey. The rail where Nuzzo knelt for her first communion as a fourth-grader was gone. The front of the sanctuary where Prevost first served the Catholic Church as an altar boy was covered with two pink and orange graffiti murals, the result of neglect after a series of closures and downsizing ordered by the Archdiocese of Chicago, which sold the parish property in 2019. An alcove that once held a statue is now empty and spray-painted with the words 'Oh My God.' Nuzzo wondered if the religious sculpture went to the still-operational Christ Our Savior church in South Holland, which absorbed many former St. Mary's parishioners. Many others made the same trip in Leo's first hours as pope, wanting to feel a connection with the South Sider who had just appeared in papal regalia on the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica. They posed for pictures outside the building and walked gingerly around the crumbling interior, agog that the first American to lead the world's 1.4 billion Catholics could have roots there. And in doing so, they may have been the site's first unofficial pilgrims. The Chicago area does not lack for holy Catholic sites. The Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe in northwest suburban Des Plaines draws thousands of pilgrims for La Virgen's feast day every December. The Shrine of All Saints in Morton Grove bills itself as the second-largest collection of relics in North America. But becoming the hometown of the first American pope could bring crowds on a different order of magnitude to the south suburbs and the city's South Side. Many sites associated with past popes' lives and upbringings have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful, and papacy-themed tourism more broadly often flowers in popes' hometowns. Benedict XVI's birthplace in Germany and John Paul II's old family home in Poland are both now museums, and themed tours of the cities where they spent parts of their lives abound on the internet. The grand basilica where Pope Francis was baptized in Buenos Aires has become a popular stop for tour groups, as well. People who gathered outside the abandoned St. Mary of the Assumption on Thursday mused about what the future might hold for Pope Leo XIV's childhood church, given its new significance. 'If he was baptized here, it's a historic place,' said Oak Lawn resident Steve Ligda. 'I bet (the archdiocese) wishes they didn't close it now.' Aaron Hollander, a scholar of theology and culture based in New York, said it made sense for people to spontaneously come out to the church as they sought a sense of connection to the new pope. But the site's religious status in the long term still remains to be seen. 'It will depend in part on what Pope Leo does and what he becomes and how his relationship with the faithful changes over time,' he said. Hollander said it's likely there may be a push to formalize the site's status as a destination but cautioned that there was no way to predict the intensity of organizing or the official response from the archdiocese. Emily Crews, a scholar of religious life at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said it would be 'fascinating' to observe whether St. Mary's or Leo's childhood home, a few blocks away on the 200 block of East141st Place in Dolton, draw religious tourists or pilgrims given their newfound significance to the history of the church. A key factor will be whether the archdiocese would buy either the church or the home, she said. A spokesperson for the archdiocese said there were no plans to repurchase the old parish property and couldn't comment on the future of the pope's childhood home.. So the future of the church remains unclear. 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. The archdiocese spokesperson said the new congregation was placed at the Riverdale church building because it was in better condition. That congregation merged with two others in 2019 to become Christ Our Savior, according to the archdiocese. Cook County tax records show the archdiocese sold the St. Mary of the Assumption property — which encompasses the church itself, the school, convent, rectory and annex — to a company called Eugene Benjamin Properties in 2019 for just under $250,000. Then the property was sold again in 2022 to the South Side-based JBlendz Holdings, records show. JBlendz Holdings bills itself online as a telecommunication infrastructure maintenance firm. One of the company's owners, Joe Hall, fielded questions from reporters Thursday afternoon on the cracked front walk as people trickled in and out, taking smartphone photos. Asked why the site has stood apparently untouched since it changed hands three years ago, Hall cited a series of weather-related setbacks. He said his ambition was to renovate the five buildings on the parcel for community development uses, including a food pantry, and to get it equipped with free Wi-Fi. Hall said he had planned to keep the church building itself as a space of worship. But he acknowledged that the news from Vatican City might scramble the rest. 'Whatever plan we thought we had, it's all been changed in the last few hours,' he said. That said, he added, he would not sell or lease the property 'unless it had anything to do with the pope, period.' Late on Thursday, Dolton Village Trustee Stanley Brown took in the church's facade from beneath his black cap. He'd passed by the building for years, he said. And he was chuffed to know that it suddenly had a place in the history of the Catholic Church, particularly after the village had weathered years of political turmoil. 'For all the things we've been going through, (God) sent us the pope here in Dolton,' he said. 'So that is a blessing.' It was early evening by the time Laura Mathews traipsed through the building in her neon crossing-guard vest and reflective sunglasses. Every few steps, she'd shout, 'I remember this!' Mathews, 71, remembered wearing the blue and white jumper uniform as an elementary student at St. Mary's, and trying to stay out of the way of one particular nun, Sister Cecilia. She said she'd never forget the thunderstorm the night of her first communion. She recalled glaring at the crucifix the first Easter after her mother died. As a young woman, she quit going to church and questioned her faith. Eventually, she said, she came back around. Nuzzo reminisced about the white dress and the hat with flowers she'd worn for her first communion. They both remembered the pope's parents, a school superintendent and a librarian, reading in front of the congregation, and picnics on the back lawn and carnivals in the parking lot. They remembered where the baby room had been and where the rosaries had been kept. Looking around for the first time in 14 years, they saw the stained glass had largely survived. The place was gutted. The air smelled like must. But looking up at the windows, the friends were amazed by how much — including the memories — remained.
