The little-known educational path of the new Pope Leo XIV

On the afternoon of May 8, at Catholic elementary schools in Chicago (USA), the loudspeakers suddenly announced: "Habemus papam!" (We have a Pope). This announcement made the students jump out of their seats, cheering with excitement.

Crowds quickly gathered in front of the downtown Holy Name Cathedral — considered the “mother” of Chicago’s Catholic churches — and workers draped white and gold ribbons over the arches in celebration.

Once unknown

Across the country, Catholics were stunned by the announcement that an American had been elected pope — something that had long seemed impossible. But in Chicago, people heard something even more remarkable: The pope was “one of their own.”

Although he has lived most of his life abroad, the new Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Francis Prevost, was born in the south suburbs of Chicago, where he grew up and attended elementary school on the South Side.

In Chicago, he was a relatively unknown figure until the news that he had become Pope was announced on May 8.

Wes Rehwoldt, 69, who attended St. Augustine High School and Villanova University with the new pope, said he thought local media had blown his old friend’s chances of being selected. But then he heard the name on television.

“I cried. We really didn’t think about it until they announced ‘Robert Francis,’ and I didn’t hear anything else,” Mr. Rehwoldt told The New York Times.

After the official announcement, Chicagoans quickly tried to find out more about Pope Leo XIV. Many were even curious about where he went to church as a child.

“No one in Chicago can rest assured until they know what parish he comes from,” said Bridget Gainer, a member of a large Catholic family on the South Side.

Pope Leo XIV (fourth from left) while studying at St. Mary of the Assumption School in 1962. (Photo: St. Mary of the Assumption School).

The Pope's Educational Path

According to the New York Times, Pope Leo XIV's family once belonged to St. Mary of the Assumption Parish in the Riverdale neighborhood of Chicago's South Side, which was once home to many Catholic families but has since closed.

His father, Louis Prevost, was a school superintendent in Cook County. His mother, Mildred Prevost, was a librarian, actively involved in parish life, and served as president of the St. Mary's Altar and Rosary Society.

John Prevost, the Pope's younger brother, who lives in New Lenox, a suburb of Chicago, said his brother has become someone who can follow in the footsteps of his predecessor, Pope Francis.

“My brother always had a great desire to help the downtrodden and the abandoned, the people who were ignored by society. I think people will see a lot of similarities. He was very simple. He wouldn't go out for a 19-course meal," said John Prevost.

In addition to his family, the new Pope’s background and education are also of interest. Many Catholic institutions where the Pope studied as a child have closed. Statistics show that the number of parishes in the Archdiocese of Chicago has decreased to 216 by 2024, while the number in the mid-1970s was 445.

Marianne Angarola, who attended St. Mary of the Assumption with Pope, said he was a good student, intelligent, kind and well-behaved, though not athletic. It was clear from that time that he had a calling to become a priest.

“There was no doubt that he would rise in the ranks of the Catholic Church. He had a calling from a very young age,” said Ms. Angarola.

As a teenager, Pope Leo XIV enrolled in St. Augustine's High School near Holland, Michigan, an all-boys boarding school.

Here he lived in the Augustinian tradition, which emphasized community life: eating together, studying together, and sharing everything in life.

The new Pope then attended Villanova University in Pennsylvania (USA), receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in Mathematics in 1977. Not stopping there, he returned to Chicago to study at the Catholic Theological Union and earned a degree in theology.

Mr. Prevost received his licentiate in canon law in 1984, and the following year, while preparing his doctoral dissertation, he was sent to the Chulucanas region of Piura province, Peru (1985-1986). In 1987, he defended his doctoral dissertation on the topic “The role of the local patriarch in the Order of Saint Augustine”.

Father William Lego, pastor of a church on Chicago's South Side, has known the new Pope since high school. The priest said that because the Pope has lived abroad for so long, his view of the world has been very broad.

“He was very intelligent, very organized. He had a very clear sense of right and wrong,” Father Lego said.

(Source: ZNews)

Link: https://lifestyle.znews.vn/con-duong-hoc-van-it-ai-biet-cua-tan-Giao-hoang-leo-xiv-post1552122.html

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/con-duong-hoc-van-it-ai-biet-cua-tan-giao-hoang-leo-xiv-ar942371.html