‘He’s got the right heart’: McHenry County Catholics celebrate new, Chicago-born pope

McHenry County-area Catholics were eager to learn Thursday of the new pope, Leo XIV, and were thrilled to learn he’s from Chicago.

Leo Errera, a kindergartner at St. Thomas the Apostle School in Crystal Lake, was “really excited” about the new pope, and about sharing his name. Leo was in music class when the announcement came. One of his classmates joked that he was the new pope.

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St. Thomas Principal Samantha Anderson said there was “lots of cheering and excitement” when the students learned the new pope was American. She got on the intercom as soon as the announcement came.

She said staff members had done some lessons about the pope, and there were a couple of days of lessons planned around it. School officials said they taught the kids a little Latin, especially “Habemus Papam” - “We have a pope.” That phrase was shared on the website of University of St. Mary of the Lake in Mundelein. The former Cardinal Robert Prevost did not attend the seminary but was born in Chicago and attended the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.

Once word spread of the new pontiff, the St. Thomas students ate lunch in their classrooms while watching the livestream of the announcement. Some of the classrooms had a lag in the livestream, and those students heard the cheering coming from other rooms, Anderson said.

At Montini Catholic School in McHenry, students also opted against eating lunch in the cafeteria because they wanted to sit in their classrooms to watch the new pope.

The news of the white smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel reached Montini following an all-school Mass during an eighth grade award ceremony, Penny Sossong, an office manager at the school, said.

She said there were good vibes and everyone was happy. The students also had a chance to pray a Hail Mary, and Sossong said the pope had a blessing for everyone.

At St. Mary School in Woodstock, some of the teachers opted to forgo planned lessons in favor of watching the announcement of the new pontiff, Principal Hillary Russell said.

“I think it was unexpected for everybody,” Russell said of the new pope being from Chicago. She said the “whole process was exciting.”

Nate Selof converted to the Catholic Church 11 years ago, shortly after Francis became Pope. Francis had been the only pope Selof knew as a Catholic. He said his oldest child is 10 years old and it was “really cool to go through” following the conclave together.

Selof said he was a little nervous about a Chicagoan being elected pope, since he is “our people.”

He said the new pope cares for the poor and sick. “He’s got the right heart,” Selof said.

Selof’s kids go to St. Mary and said they went out for ice cream after school to celebrate the new pontiff, saying,“They were pumped” about the new pontiff and his Chicago roots. Selof said it would be exciting for the pope to visit the Windy City.

Dawn Harris, who attends the Church of the Holy Apostles in McHenry, said she saw the black smoke Thursday morning but not the white smoke when a new pope was chosen; she said she would watch the replay. She was “very pleased and ecstatic” the pope was an American, later adding it was “a little heartwarming for us” that Leo is a Chicagoan.

Mark Torgerson, a professor of worship arts and biblical and theological studies at Judson University in Elgin, said he thought Leo was a “fantastic choice.” He understands the people, the structure and integrity of the church, Torgerson said, and thinks the pope will be a “very powerful voice, especially for those who are underserved.” Torgerson, who is not Catholic, received his master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Notre Dame.

The Rev. Bob Jones, pastor at St. Thomas the Apostle Church in Crystal Lake, said “it’s just very exciting.”

Jones noted the pope’s selection of the name Leo, saying a prior Pope Leo was one of the first who started Catholic social teaching. Leo’s name is, according to a Vatican spokesperson, a reference to Leo XIII “and the social doctrine of the church, in particular the Rerum Novarum encyclical, considered the Catholic Church’s first social encyclical,” according to the Associated Press.

Jones said he had read about possible papal frontrunners and that most said it was unlikely it would be an American and unlikely someone in their 60s. The new pope, who is 69, has business smarts and a lot of gifts, Jones said.

He said a lot of people were surprised but excited about the new pope, and he had a strong sense Leo would be a “unifying presence.”

Pope Leo spent his career ministering in Peru before becoming the head the Vatican’s office that vets bishop nominations.

Leo is the first American pope, but also holds Peruvian citizenship.