Catholic Chicagoans celebrate as native son Pope Leo XIV becomes first American pope

CHICAGO (AP) — After white smoke billowed Thursday from the Sistine Chapel, signaling that a pope had been chosen, students in every classroom at The Frances Xavier Warde School in Chicago had their eyes glued to TV screens.

As the image of the new pope, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, appeared onscreen, cheers erupted through the hallways. Children jumped out of their seats, pumping their hands in the air.

“Our students are just beside themselves," said Mary Perrotti, director of advancement at the school. “They’re beyond excited and can’t believe a Chicagoan is their new pope. They were in awe.”

Prevost, 69, took the name Leo XIV and replaced Pope Francis, who died last month. The first American elected pontiff, Pope Leo XIV was born and raised in Chicago before undertaking his ministry in Peru. Catholic Chicagoans gathered in churches and celebrated from their homes as the historic decision was announced.

“Our young people have a model now of a leader with justice and compassion at the heart of his ministries — and who is from their home,” Perrotti said. "It’s such a deep feeling of connection for them.”

Prevost was born in 1955 in the south side Chicago neighborhood of Bronzeville and grew up in suburban Dolton, near St. Mary of the Assumption, where he attended Mass and elementary school.

He later studied theology at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in Hyde Park and taught in local Catholic schools, including at St. Rita High School, according to the school.

“We are overjoyed that someone who is beloved and known to us is now the beloved leader of the whole entire church,” said Barbara Reid, a Dominican sister and president of the Catholic Theological Union.

John Doughney, a fellow St. Mary’s grade school graduate from 1969, remembers Prevost as a “friend to everyone” and a “kind, caring, compassionate young man.”

“Even when he was 12 and 13, it was apparent to all of us that he knew what his calling was,” he said. “It would’ve shocked all of us if he didn’t go into the priesthood. We’re so proud of him.”

Linda Eickmann, 62, was also born and raised in Dolton and attended St. Mary's. When she saw the news of the new pope on TV, she screamed with joy.

“How cool is that?" she said. "A pope from my elementary school, from my town. It’s unreal.”

Eickmann remembered Prevost's family as being so deeply involved in the St. Mary's community that everyone knew their names. They ran sloppy joe sales to raise money for the school, and all their sons were altar boys, including Prevost.

Raul Raymundo, co-founder of a local community advocacy group called the Resurrection Project, said Thursday was a proud day for Chicagoans and he hoped Pope Leo XIV will "continue Pope Francis’ legacy and Chicago’s legacy of social justice and compassion, especially in welcoming immigrants.”

“There’s tears of joy, of hope, of motivation to rise to this moment and leave this world better than we found it," said Raymundo, an immigrant from Mexico who grew up in Chicago's Pilsen neighborhood.

At Holy Name Cathedral, about two dozen people gathered to pray as light filtered in through the stained glass windows.

Kneeling in a pew, Laurel Legler said she isn't Catholic or even Christian but felt she had to be there after the new American pope's election was announced. She called it a “profound moment.”

Zoë Poehlman, a nurse who moved from Kansas City to Chicago a few months ago, described the mood as exciting and hopes there will be citywide celebrations. “It was just so crazy,” she said.

Father Gregory Sakowicz, the cathedral's rector, said that when the new pope was announced, the sun came out — a coincidence he described as “God’s way of remaining anonymous.” He said he was “happily shocked,” and that he had a burning question: Whether the new Pope was a White Sox fan?

When a journalist in the crowd said she’d heard Pope Leo XIV is a Cubs fan, Sakowicz chuckled. “God bless him,” he said. It turns out he's a Sox fan.

On social media, people swapped memes about Chicago staples — deep-dish and tavern-style pizza, the Chicago liqueur Malört and baseball, reflecting the civic pride of Chicago residents as they claimed the pope as one of their own.

Google search traffic for “Da Pope” skyrocketed, and a local T-shirt company announced it would sell “Da Pope” shirts with a blue-and-orange Bears-themed design. Chicagoans overlayed Chicago Bulls intro music to video of the pope exiting the Vatican.

Some joked about replacing communion wafers and wine with tavern-style pizza and Malört. And the Chicago fast food chain Portillo's jested about shipping its Italian beef to Vatican City.

Many users also proclaimed hope the new pope would represent Chicago's history of social justice.

“For Catholic Chicagoans, to have a native son who has been born and raised in a city where support and care of all has always been central to who we are as a city, it really speaks volumes," Perrotti said.

"I truly believe his upbringing in Chicago informs his ministries, his compassion and sense of justice. Now, he can give the world a sense of who we are as a city.”

This story corrects spelling of Laurel Legler’s last name from Legle to Legler

A photo of the new Pope Leo XIV, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost is shown on a phone from when he was a substitute teacher at St. Rita high school Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

A St. Rita High School student prays in the school chapel where the new Pope Leo XIV, Chicago native Cardinal Robert Prevost, was a substitute teacher, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Paul Beaty)

CORRECTS DATE - Bishop Lawrence J. Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, speaks as Father Gregory Sakowicz listens at Holy Name Cathedral, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Bishop Lawrence J. Sullivan, vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, speaks at Holy Name Cathedral, on Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Holy Name Cathedral is seen Thursday, May 8, 2025, in downtown Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

Keely Reardon of Chicago kneels with her hands clasped at Holy Name Cathedral, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

People kneel in prayer at Madonna della Strada Chapel at Loyola University Chicago shortly before Chicago-born Robert Francis Cardinal Prevost was announced as Pope Leo XIV, Thursday, May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)

DETROIT (AP) — President Donald Trump is traveling to Michigan on Tuesday to promote his efforts to boost U.S. manufacturing, trying to counter fears about a weakening job market and worries that still-rising prices are taking a toll on Americans' pocketbooks.

The day trip will include a tour of a Ford factory in Dearborn that makes F-150 pickups, the bestselling domestic vehicle in the U.S. The Republican president is also set to deliver a speech at the Detroit Economic Club at the MotorCity Casino.

It comes as the Trump administration’s criminal investigation of Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has sparked an outcry, with defenders of the U.S. central bank pushing back against Trump's efforts to exert more control over it.

Federal data from December released before the president left Washington showed Inflation declined a bit last month as prices for gas and used cars fell — a sign that cost pressures are slowly easing. Consumer prices rose 0.3% in December from the prior month, the Labor Department said, the same as in November.

“We have very low inflation,” Trump told reporters on the White House lawn as he left Washington, adding “and growth is going up. We have tremendous growth numbers.”

November's off-year elections in Virginia, New Jersey and elsewhere illustrated a shift away from Republicans as public concerns about kitchen table issues persist. In their wake, the White House said Trump would put a greater emphasis on talking directly to the public about his economic policies after doing relatively few events around the country earlier in his term.

The president has suggested that jitters about affordability are a “hoax” unnecessarily stirred by Democrats. Still, though he's imposed steep tariffs on U.S. trading partners around the world, Trump has reduced some of them when it comes to making cars — including extending import levies on foreign-made auto parts until 2030.

Ford announced last month that it was scrapping plans to make an electric F-150, despite pouring billions of dollars into broader electrification, after the Trump administration slashed targets to have half of all new vehicle sales be electric by 2030, eliminated EV tax credits and proposed weakening the emissions and gas mileage rules.

Trump's Michigan swing follows economy-focused speeches he gave last month in Pennsylvania — where his gripes about immigrants arriving to the U.S. from “filthy” countries got more attention than his pledges to fight inflation — and North Carolina, where he insisted his tariffs have spurred the economy, despite residents noting the squeeze of higher prices.

Trump carried Michigan in 2016 and 2024, after it swung Democratic and backed Joe Biden in 2020. He marked his first 100 days in office with a rally-style April speech outside Detroit, where he focused more on past campaign grudges than his administration's economic or policy plans.

During that visit nearly nine months ago, Trump also spoke at Selfridge Air National Guard Base and announced a new fighter jet mission, allaying fears that the base could close. It represented a win for Michigan Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer — and the two even shared a hug.

This time, Democrats have panned the president's trip, singling out national Republicans' opposition to extending health care subsidies and recalling a moment in October 2024 when Trump, then also addressing the Detroit Economic Club, said that Democrats' retaining the White House would mean “our whole country will end up being like Detroit."

"You’re going to have a mess on your hands,” Trump said during a campaign stop back then.

Curtis Hertel, chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, said that “after spending months claiming that affordability was a ‘hoax’ and creating a health care crisis for Michiganders, Donald Trump is now coming to Detroit — a city he hates — to tout his billionaire-first agenda while working families suffer."

“Michiganders are feeling the effects of Trump’s economy every day,” Hertel said in a statement.

Weissert reported from Washington.

President Donald Trump and White House Chief of Staff Susie Wiles, reflected on door, leave to board Marine One, Tuesday, Jan. 13, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)

President Donald Trump speaks to reporters while in flight on Air Force One to Joint Base Andrews, Md., Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Julia Demaree Nikhinson)