‘One of our own’: Chicago archdiocese leaders happily shocked by choice of pope
The Very Rev. Gregory Sakowicz — who grew up in Park Ridge and Chicago’s North Side — was dispensing communion Thursday during the daily noontime Mass at Holy Name Cathedral when he learned the unthinkable: a priest from Chicago was elected pope.
A parishioner whispered the breaking news to him.
“I said ‘the Body of Christ’ to her, and then said, ‘Thank you for sharing.’
“I was in absolute shock. Happily shocked. He was not on my short, short list,” said Sakowicz, the cathedral’s rector. “At that moment, I looked outside here in Chicago, and the sun came out.”
Still reeling from the surprise an hour after Pope Leo XIV appeared from the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica for the first time, Sakowicz and Bishop Larry Sullivan, the vicar general of the Archdiocese of Chicago, talked to reporters and camera crews inside the Holy Name sanctuary about the momentous day.
“It’s a day of great excitement for the church,” Sullivan said. “It’s a day of great excitement for Chicago (and) for the United States to have one of our own be elected as the pope.”
There’s a sense of pride that the new pope is from here, but Leo XIV brings a variety of perspectives and experiences to the church’s highest position, Sullivan and Sakowicz noted.
That includes years spent as a missionary in Peru, and his most recent position as head of the Vatican office that vets bishop nominations from around the world.
“Pope Leo XIV is first and foremost a child of God, and that means he is here to serve all of God's people,” Sullivan said. “He has a real hands-on knowledge of what it means to serve the poor and to help those who are in need.”
At the Midwest Province of the Augustinian Order — which has offices in the Beverly neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side — there was a celebratory mood Thursday afternoon when members of the order learned that a fellow Augustinian had been elevated as Holy Father.
“Pope Leo XIV is a man of deep integrity, a true listener, and a companion to those on the margins of society,” said the Very Rev. Anthony Pizzo, the prior provincial. “We see him as a bridge-builder, rooted in the spirit of St. Augustine, walking forward with the whole church as a companion on the journey. We are honored that he is one of our own, a brother formed in the restless heart of the Augustinian order.”
Sakowicz believes the new pope will “lean heavily” into social justice issues, including treatment of the poor and rights of the voiceless. The last pope who took the name Leo — Leo XIII — had a similar approach at the turn of the 19th century.
“I think he’s going to be very strong on the immigrant, human rights and the earth,” Sakowicz said. “There'll be similarities to Pope Francis, but he will be his own man, his own pope, his own background, and his strengths and his weaknesses.”
A number of parishioners streamed into the cathedral to say prayers after the press conference. Black bunting over the cathedral doors marking the death of Pope Francis was soon replaced with white and gold bunting. A Mass of Thanksgiving for the election of the new pope is scheduled for 8 a.m. Friday at Holy Name, one of what’s expected to be several special Masses at parishes throughout the archdiocese.
Neither Sullivan nor Sakowicz had yet spoken to Chicago’s cardinal, who was just coming out of a media blackout after the secret conclave at the Vatican.
“I have a feeling in the future, thanks to Cardinal Blase Cupich, (the pope) may make in the future a visit to Chicago,” Sakowicz said. “Maybe yes, maybe no. Time will tell.”
“You can’t deny where you’re from, or as part of who you are from the neighborhood, and that’s just part of who he is,” Sakowicz added. “But believe me, he will be open to the whole world, and he will listen, and listen, and dialogue.”
· Daily Herald staff writer Katlyn Smith contributed to this report.