Legal fight brewing over Pope Leo’s childhood home? South suburb plans to acquire site
The Village of Dolton plans to take ownership of Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home through eminent domain.
Despite the current owner’s plans to sell the home to the highest bidder in an auction next month, the village “intends to purchase the home either through direct purchase or through eminent domain powers,” village attorney Burton Odelson wrote in a letter Tuesday.
The pope’s parents purchased the home, at 212 E. 141st Place, new in 1949, paying a $42 monthly mortgage.
The current owners purchased the home intending to flip it and sell it. They renovated the home last year and on May 5 put it on the market, listing it for $219,000. Ultimately the owners decided to put the Cape Cod-style home up for auction, according to brokers iCandy Realty.
Odelson sent the letter to Paramount Realty USA, the New York-based auction house chosen to sell the home on June 18.
“Please inform any prospective buyers that their ‘purchase’ may only be temporary since the Village intends to begin the eminent domain process very shortly,” he wrote.
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