1 year of Chicago native Pope Leo XIV: Championing migrants, uplifting his hometown - and challenging Donald Trump

CHICAGO - It was a class reunion like no other.

Ten 1969 graduates of St. Mary of the Assumption school on the city's Far South Side traveled to Vatican City to reconnect with a fellow alum whom they now call Holy Father.

Pope Leo XIV, once a choir boy and top student at the now-defunct church, embraced his grammar schoolmates from more than a half-century ago at St. Peter's Square in mid-March.

"I was a nervous wreck," recalled Sherry Stone, a St. Mary's graduate who grew up with the pope. "The whole experience was just amazing."

Nearly a year ago, Stone wept with joy at the news that her old friend Robert Francis Prevost - born in Chicago and raised in south suburban Dolton- made history as the first American to be elected pope.

Like many prognosticators, she never thought a cardinal who hailed from the United States would ascend to lead some 1.4 billion Catholics worldwide, defying all conventional geopolitical wisdom at the time.

Yet after the white smoke streamed from the Sistine Chapel chimney and Prevost's name was announced from the balcony of St. Peter's Basilica on May 8, 2025, Stone - along with so many others from the Chicago area - exulted in the improbable elevation of their new home-grown pontiff.

"It's a great thing for Chicago. It's a great thing for the United States," she said during a recent phone interview with the Tribune. "We're very proud."

From the loggia of St. Peter's Basilica, Pope Leo's first words to the world bore a simple message of bridge-building and unity.

"Peace be with you all," he proclaimed shortly after his selection, to the cheers of throngs of faithful gathered below.

As the first year of Leo's historic pontificate comes to a close, the longtime missionary and Augustinian friar remains a stalwart champion of migrants, the poor and care for the environment, a trinity of issues at the core of his ministry.

The Holy Father also has emerged as a powerful counter to President Donald Trump, condemning his administration's hardline immigration stance, framing of Russia's war against Ukraine and military action in Venezuela.

The White House-Vatican feud recently climaxed with Leo repeatedly denouncing the U.S.-Israel-led war in Iran with words that closely mirrored his initial bid for peace in those first moments following his landmark selection.

"Let those who have weapons lay them down. Let those who have the power to unleash wars choose peace," he declared during his first Easter address. "Not a peace imposed by force, but through dialogue."

A week later, Trump called Leo "weak on crime" and "terrible for foreign policy," in an unprecedented personal attack by a U.S. president against a pope.

The Holy Father responded that he has "no fear of the Trump administration" and will continue to invoke the Gospel's message of peace, stressing that he wasn't targeting the president or anyone else personally in condemning war.

"It's clear that Pope Leo and President Trump are the two most famous Americans in the world. And the two most powerful Americans in the world, who have very different visions of it and very different styles of operating that are, in a sense, in real tension," said Christopher White, associate director at Georgetown University's Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life.

On the world stage, "unintentionally … just because of who he is and what his message is, Pope Leo is offering an alternative to Donald Trump," added White, author of the book "Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Conclave and the Dawn of a New Papacy," published by Loyola Press in Chicago.

Trump's second term has been laced with disdain for Chicago, which he has labeled a "hell hole" and "killing field" while periodically threatening to unleash the National Guard to quell local immigration enforcement protests.

On the other end of the spectrum, the Holy Father has consistently uplifted his birthplace on the international scene, from cheering on the White Sox and Bears to lauding the city's South Side during an October general audience in St. Peter's Square.

As for Stone, she noted that her longtime friend has been "more politically outspoken than other popes have been."

But she's more concerned with his ability to inspire faith across the nation and globe.

"I think we need to turn a little more towards God in our country than we have been," Stone added.

She believes the pontiff is uniquely poised to inspire that kind of spiritual transformation.

"I hope so," she said. "I pray so."

As a young boy, he would play pretend Mass using his family's ironing board as a makeshift altar, she recounted.

"That's how religious he was," Stone said. "He used to make comments about wanting to be pope. Now he got his wish."

The St. Mary's classmates were among a litany of Chicago-area folks who have met with the pope in Vatican City over the last year, with Illinois enjoying a newfound close connection to the Holy See.

Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker in November gifted the pontiff a four-pack of a Chicago-brewed ale dubbed "Da Pope" beer in Leo's honor while addressing fallout from Operation Midway Blitz, the Trump administration's local immigration crackdown.

The lines of communication between the pope and his home state have been both positive and negative: The pontiff expressed grave disappointment in December after Pritzker signed a bill permitting medically assisted death, despite the Holy Father having directly asked him not to do so while urging a greater respect for life.

Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias in October presented the pope with a custom White Sox-themed Illinois license plate, a nod to the pontiff's favorite baseball team. A delegation of Illinois mayors and municipal leaders were granted a private audience with the Holy Father in April; the pope instructed them to prioritize the poor, immigrants and "the least among you."

Before Stone and the rest of the St. Mary's crew left the Vatican, Pope Leo gave them each a rosary that he had blessed. Stone, who now lives in Nevada, said she keeps hers in her purse.

She added that she feels "closer to God" because the gift from her hometown pontiff is always by her side.

"When we saw him, he seemed like the guy we knew," she said, marveling that he still found time to return emails from his old classmates while serving as the vicar of Christ. "Not like the pope."

Taking on Trump

The papal conclave performed a fairly remarkable feat.

More than 130 cardinals from about 70 different countries met in the Sistine Chapel of the Apostolic Palace for the secretive, ancient rite of selecting the next successor of St. Peter.

In roughly 33 hours over the course of two days, the diverse group of international prelates elected Prevost on the fourth ballot.

It was the first conclave Cardinal Blase Cupich took part in, and he was in awe of the prayerful and meditative nature of the centuries-old ritual as well as the cohesiveness of the process. Amid much international strife and conflict, a diverse group of cardinals made such a profound choice in a relatively short period of time, he recalled.

Trump, however, has claimed unilateral credit for the groundbreaking election of Pope Leo XIV, insisting in an April 12 social media post that "if I wasn't in the White House, Leo wouldn't be in the Vatican."

"Leo should be thankful because, as everyone knows, he was a shocking surprise," the president said in a lengthy rant on his Truth Social page. "He wasn't on any list to be Pope, and was only put there by the Church because he was an American, and they thought that would be the best way to deal with President Donald J. Trump."

The Archbishop of Chicago said this is not true.

"I can tell you there was absolutely no reference to the United States or to the president or this administration in the entire moment in which we considered the election of a new pope," he said during a recent interview with the Tribune. "It wasn't on the radar screen at all. For anyone to portray the pope as being elected to counter the president, this has no basis in fact or reality. … Let's face it, I was in the room when this all happened. So I can speak authoritatively."

Cupich noted that modern popes have often targeted presidential policymaking, from Pope Paul VI's criticism of the Vietnam War to Pope John Paul II's famed Easter message opposing the Gulf War.

The difference is that presidents of the past "did not respond in a way that criticized the pope or was personal, an attack, the way we have seen with the response of President Trump," he said.

"This has not happened before," Cupich said. "It disappointed me as an American."

Rockford Mayor Tom McNamara met Pope Leo last month as part of the delegation of Illinois leaders.

The Holy Father "radiated kindness" from the moment he walked into the room, McNamara recalled.

"I had a brief one-on-one conversation with the pope and thanked him for using his position and voice in a more direct and unambiguous way to address what's happening in the world today," the mayor added. "I believe his leadership is a big part of why the Catholic Church is seeing renewed interest, including increases in baptism and attendance."

This is in stark contrast to Trump's track record, McNamara said.

"I don't believe anyone advocating cuts to support for survivors of domestic and sexual violence, SNAP, WIC, childcare assistance or community service block grants has the moral standing to challenge a man who has dedicated his life to the teachings of Jesus," the mayor added.

The Rev. John Lydon of Chicago, the pope's longtime friend and fellow Augustinian, believes the president's assumptions about the conclave stem from a lack of understanding of Catholicism as well as the ritual of picking a pope.

"Catholics believe it is the action of the Holy Spirit guiding the cardinals. Not the spirit of the president of the United States," he added.

Lydon, who served as a Peruvian missionary with the pope during the 1990s, recalled his friend collecting signatures on petitions urging an end to human rights violations under an authoritarian regime.

This pope is not one who will acquiesce to Trump on matters of morality, violence and human dignity, Lydon added.

"If you're willing to do that and confront an authoritarian government - he's not one to back down," said the priest, who most recently met with Leo in person during a trip to the Vatican in October.

The pope in November called on the Trump administration to allow migrants detained at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview to receive Holy Communion, as multiple attempts to bring the sacrament inside were repeatedly rebuffed.

Lydon recalled standing outside the Broadview facility on Nov. 1 while taking part in a Eucharistic procession and watching the holy gifts be turned away by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security. Communion was finally permitted to be brought into the Broadview facility in February on Ash Wednesday, under a preliminary injunction following a lengthy legal battle.

"Why would you deny Communion?" Lydon asked. "I thought it was an abuse of power."

The priest was not surprised the pope weighed in so strongly on the spiritual rights of immigrants.

"He will be clear about what the position of the church is," Lydon added, even if it means standing up to those in power.

Next few months

The pontiff has made an indelible mark on pop culture, with themes of local sports, food and drinks woven into representations of his divine calling.

Memes of Leo donning a Bears-themed miter and subbing Malört for wine in Holy Communion immediately went viral following his election. One popular post online depicts Leo making the sign of the cross with one hand while gripping a Chicago-style hotdog in the other.

More recently, the "Late Show with Stephen Colbert" released a papal "diss track" targeting Trump to images of the popemobile beside a giant Chicago Italian beef sandwich.

The parody of Kendrick Lamar's Grammy-winning hit "Not Like Us" featured the lyrics, "I'm up in the Vatican/You're still in denial/I'm the Holy See/You're the holy senile."

Although many Chicagoans are clamoring for Leo to visit Chicago, Cupich said it's unclear when he'll return to his hometown.

"He is going to come. And when he comes to the United States, he has to come to Chicago, that's all there is to it," he added.

But heightened tensions between the White House and Vatican might delay such a homecoming.

Papal visits tend to be intentionally planned during periods when they won't be viewed as political in nature, White said.

"The Vatican goes to great lengths to make sure it doesn't really happen during election years for that reason," he said. "Because they don't want candidates trying to take advantage of papal visits."

The conflict with Trump "certainly increases the likelihood that a papal visit to the United States is probably sometime in the distance," he added.

Leo has declined Trump's invitation to attend a United States' 250th anniversary celebration in July, though he plans to make a virtual appearance on July 3 to accept the National Constitution Center's Liberty Medal.

Instead, he intends to go to the Italian island of Lampedusa, a known migrant destination.

"It's not only a very Catholic thing to do in terms of caring for the immigrant but also a very American thing to do," Cupich said. "It's in keeping with our status as a nation of immigrants and also faithful to what the Statue of Liberty stands for."

Leo is also scheduled to travel to the Canary Islands in June to concentrate on the Atlantic migration crisis. Lydon plans to be there as well and attend a symposium on refugees and migrants along with the pope, though he doubts Leo will have time for a personal visit during that trip.

The Vatican is expected to soon release Pope Leo's first encyclical "Magnifica Humanitas," which will tackle the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence.

Cupich predicts that the document will grapple with how AI might help or hurt humanity.

"Is this technology in any way going to endanger human life? Will it have an impact on the dignity that we have for workers?" Cupich asked. "We also have a need for accurate information rather than letting fake news or algorithms determine what we should be hearing. So there's a whole dimension of aspects that need to be considered."

White noted that so far Leo's leadership style has stressed collaboration while listening to as many people and perspectives as possible.

"(Leo) has his own sort of quiet, unassuming, humble approach on the world stage in a moment where a lot of world leaders are relying on their ego or sort of bombastic styles of operating," White said. "And in that way, his own quiet determination and humility is increasingly attractive."

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