The pontiff broke the news to 'NBC Nightly News' anchor Lester Holt, a former CBS2 Chicago anchor, in a brief one-on-one chat at the Vatican on Monday. Leo says he's heard that people are coming back to the church as a result of an American being named pontiff.

The Catholic Theological Union of Chicago is beaming with pride as their alumnus, Pope Leo XIV, prepares for his official inauguration, with messages of well wishes and prayers from the Augustinian Order and the university's community.

In his first days as pope, Leo XIV has struck many as an unassuming man of quiet warmth and deeply rooted identity. A visit to the part of Chicago where the first American Pontiff was raised gives an idea of how he got that way.