Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said he expects Pope Leo XIV "feels an obligation," to speak to what he called the issues of the day, amid "real challenges globally."

Many sites associated with past popes’ lives have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful. But Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church in Chicago closed years ago.

Chicago’s South Side was solidly working class during Pope Leo’s childhood, said Rob Paral, a researcher at the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois Chicago. The family attended a South Side church, but they lived in Dolton, a suburb just past the city line.