By Simone Orendain, OSV News
CHICAGO (OSV News) — A year into his papacy, Pope Leo XIV is still enjoying popularity and rockstar-like fame, especially in Chicago, his hometown. Beyond the pop-culture interest, some of the faithful told OSV News his message of peace, dedication to the faith and outreach to young people have stood out.
After Easter morning Mass, Victoria Mendez and her family stopped to talk by the heavy bronze doors of St. Rita of Cascia Catholic Church on Chicago’s South Side. The parish is run by Augustinians, the religious order and its Midwest province that formed Pope Leo.
“I think we’ve seen a lot of people fall in love with Catholicism, seeing that their pope is from Chicago,” said 24-year-old Mendez.
While anecdotal, said she has the sense Pope Leo is drawing interest in the faith. She has observed more youth in the church since his election. She also mentioned an uptick in conversions to the faith — not just in the U.S. but also Europe, particularly this Easter. Though none of the reports about the bump in new Catholics have tied the pope’s popularity to the numbers, several people told OSV News it may play a role.
“He’s just very good with people. He’s very into creating peace within different forms of Catholicism. And he’s just so open-minded. And he cares about everybody,” said Mendez. “You see that in all his actions and everything he says and does, and the way he reflects himself. You can tell he’s really trying to bring peace on earth.”
On the day of his election, from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, Pope Leo’s first words were, “Peace be with you all!”
His message for peace has been consistent throughout the past year. And these days, it is more vehement because of the war in Iran that the U.S. and Israel began Feb. 28.
Mendez pointed out Pope Leo also “connects with the younger generation” through his social media posts and stories of his youth told by his brothers about growing up in Dolton, a southern suburb of Chicago.
Pope Leo, born Robert F. Prevost, lived in Dolton until he entered the Augustinians’ minor seminary in Holland, Michigan, when he was 13. He completed an undergraduate degree in math at Villanova University near Philadelphia in 1977, earned a master’s degree from Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1982, the year he was ordained to the priesthood, and earned a doctorate in canon law in 1984 at the Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas in Rome.
He then served in Peru’s impoverished northwest for nearly 20 years, where in 2015 he became bishop. He also held leadership positions in Rome, including prior general for the Augustinians, head of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America and prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops. He was elevated to cardinal in September 2023 and elected pope May 8, 2025.
Born and raised on Chicago’s South Side herself, Mendez said “it makes me happy” that Pope Leo is relatable to even non-Catholics, especially as a fellow fan of the South Side-based Chicago White Sox.
Mendez’s mother, Maria, said the family was drawn to St. Rita and recently began attending Mass there because of its ties to the pope. She said the papal connection and the Augustinian charism of fostering unity have made the parish very attractive.
The Augustinians “approach people in a different way, that makes people come back. (It’s) the welcoming (way), their hospitality,” said Maria.
The 70-year old Pope Leo is “a happy pope,” she said, adding, “He brings happiness to every individual. Doesn’t matter the nationality or age, he’s there for everyone. Yeah, we could feel it.”
Northeast of St. Rita, people walked April 7 under a bright spring sun and braced themselves against strong, cold wind as they left the downtown Holy Name Cathedral following daily Mass.
Tom Pyden was descending the cathedral’s steps when he told OSV News Pope Leo has “done a very good job” for the Church and the world because of “his repeated calls for peace and not backing down from that.”
Pyden was in Chicago from Plymouth, Michigan, to visit his son for Easter week. Though he is not from the Windy City, he said of Pope Leo that he was “so very proud that he’s from the U.S.”
“I read daily inspirational sayings from him. I think he’s very inclusive. And I don’t know him, but it seems like he has a wonderful personality that draws people together,” said Pyden, who also remarked on his possible impact on the number of new Catholics entering the Church at Easter vigil, even at his own parish.
Ellie Greg, a 26-year-old dog walker who lives near the cathedral, said she might have been baptized Catholic but was raised as a non-denomination Christian. She told OSV News she does not practice any faith now, but, she said, for pope “obviously, it’s good to have somebody hometown.”
“I haven’t had any complaints,” she said of the pope. “Honestly, I don’t pay too much attention to news of the Vatican, but I haven’t heard anything offensive (from Pope Leo).”
Even though she is not practicing the faith, Greg has a personal connection to the American pope. She grew up in Frankfurt, a south Chicago suburb. “It’s pretty close to where Pope Leo grew up,” she said, “and they said his favorite restaurant is Aurelio’s. I used to work at Aurelio’s.”
The local south suburban-based pizza chain created a “poperoni pizza” within days of his election.
A passerby who said she was on her way to her nearby mainline Protestant church shouted over her shoulder, “I think he’s doing a great job! Love him! Just love him!”
Pilar Villa of Guadalajara, Mexico, was visiting Chicago over Easter with her twin teenage daughters. She told OSV News she likes that Pope Leo has given clear messages and has dedicated time to youth and young people.
“He recently talked about the importance of young people not having ties to artificial intelligence, that they should follow God and believe in God,” she said.
Pope Leo has spoken via video twice with American youth, first in June and then in November.
In a video message to youth in June at the Chicago archdiocese Mass of thanksgiving for his election as pope, he emphasized the importance of recognizing God’s presence in their lives, especially “that longing for love in our lives, for … searching, a true searching, for finding the ways that we may be able to do something with our own lives to serve others.”
In November, Pope Leo had a live video encounter with young people at the National Catholic Youth Conference in Indianapolis. “Look to Jesus. Trust his mercy and go to him with confidence. He will always welcome you home,” he said.
Retired Bishop Daniel T. Turley of Chulacanas, Peru, a native Chicago South Sider and Pope Leo’s past Augustinian superior during his missionary work, said Pope Leo’s solid upbringing in the faith and missionary life in impoverished Peru beset with domestic terrorism have influenced Pope Leo’s leadership.
“(He) is a pope at a very time of crisis, so he brings to his papacy, a great deal of balance, of joy, but also a message asking for peace, asking for non-violence, asking to respect the dignity of life throughout the world, and asking countries to search out ways of unity. And he is a pope that is trying to build bridges,” he told OSV News.
Bishop Turley said a “Leo effect” might be having some impact on the faithful coming into the Church or returning. He said he has celebrated numerous large-group confirmations throughout the Chicago archdiocese over the past year, and pastors at those parishes have observed increased numbers of those entering rites of initiation.
“There’s a ‘Leo effect’ for Chicago in particular,” he said. “It’s like a ripple of the ocean, the waves, you know. So it’s a wave of energy, happiness, joy, hope. That’s rippling through the Augustinian order. It’s rippling through the United States of America because he’s the first American pope in the history of the Church. But he’s also the first pope from Chicago. There’s a ‘Leo effect’ in Chicago, in the United States, and then in the whole world.”
Simone Orendain is an OSV News correspondent. She writes from Chicago.
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