PHILADELPHIA (OSV News) ─ A day before Pope Leo XIV spoke by livestream to teens at the 2025 National Catholic Youth Conference, Kristie Hughes Dugan ─ president of Little Flower Catholic High School in Philadelphia ─ summed up the excitement her students felt ahead of the pope's Nov. 21 "digital encounter" with the nation's next generation.
"Having Pope Leo be an American gives our kids a connection, that they can be as holy too," Dugan told OSV News. "That level of holiness is attainable to us, because the person who is the pope now was in the same streets in which our kids are growing up. … He was one of us."
In the first seven months of his papacy, the first U.S.-born pope has often signaled that -- amid years of serving the church in Peru, Rome and now the world at large -- a piece of his heart remains with the nation where he was born, raised, educated and ordained.
And that's endeared Pope Leo to both Catholics and non-Catholics in the U.S. alike.
Americans have gifted the pope with Chicago pizza in St. Peter's Square and pumpkin pie on the papal plane. He now has a place of honor at the home field of his beloved Chicago White Sox. Memes and merchandise of "Da Pope" abound.
Vocations inquiries are up at the U.S provinces of the Augustinian order to which Pope Leo belongs. Students from his alma mater, Villanova University, have flown to Rome to meet with the school's first-ever papal alumnus.
Even the data shows that Pope Leo is trending in American hearts. The nation's Catholics "like what they've seen so far" in Pope Leo XIV, with 8 in 10 viewing the new pope favorably─ and significant numbers of non-Catholics agreeing, according to a study released in September by Pew Research Center.
Pew found that on balance, 84% of the nation's Catholics hold a favorable view of Pope Leo. Among U.S. Catholics who attend Mass weekly, that approval rating is even higher, with 95% viewing the pope favorably.
Pope Leo also topped a July Gallup poll on world leaders, appealing to U.S. residents broadly in a politically divided ─ and divisive ─ nation, with 57% of respondents viewing him favorably, ahead of Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (52%), U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., (49%) and U.S. President Donald Trump (41%). Pope Leo even led the survey's rankings according to net favorability -- which represents the difference between positive and negative percentage points ─ at 46%.
In addition, said Gallup, Pope Leo is viewed more favorably across party lines, "unlike the political figures measured in the latest poll."
But behind those numbers are profound personal, social and cultural connections to the U.S. that can't be quantified ─ bonds far deeper than the crust of a Chicago-style pizza.
Over the past seven months, those ties have shown themselves in a number of ways ─ from interviews with family members recounting memories of the future pope and his various likings for food and sports, to the collective pride of Chicago, Villanova University and the U.S.-based Augustinian provinces, all of which were key to his formation.
The former Robert Prevost's siblings, Louis and John, have recalled for journalists how their baby brother ─ seen during his suburban Chicago childhood smiling in family pictures and Catholic school class photos ─ was a mixture of both the everyday and the extraordinary.
Louis Prevost previously told OSV News he recalled Robert celebrating a "little pretend" Mass as a child, using an ironing board as the altar, with Necco wafers for Communion hosts.
Those early hints of holiness were interwoven with the simple joys of ordinary life, with Louis telling The Associated Press hours after the papal election that he and his brother had chatted by FaceTime almost every day, and played the daily online puzzle Wordle.
The May 9 AP interview was even interrupted by a call from Pope Leo himself, who ─ having tried to reach his brother for the past two hours ─ asked, "Well, why didn't you answer your phone?"
In a separate interview with "Good Morning America" that same day, John Prevost said he planned to still call his brother "Rob." Other longtime friends of the pope have also spoken of how they still instinctively regard him as "Father Rob" or even just "Bob."
Such experiences and anecdotes resonate with the nation's faithful, making the pope relatable. In particular, Pope Leo's Black and Creole roots on his mother's side ─ discovered by New Orleans genealogist Jari Honora ─ speak to the nation's rich multiracial history, and the experience of Black Catholics.
Chicago has reveled in its claim as the birthplace of Pope Leo, with the suburban village of Dolton purchasing the Prevost family's modest home ─ where the future pope and his family lived until 1969 ─ and designating it as a historical site.
Dolton Mayor Jason House described the property as one of the "most culturally and spiritually significant locations in the United States," with village clerk Alison Key saying she wanted residents to be "proud to live in Dolton, the home of Pope Leo XIV."
Vatican News has released the documentary "Leo from Chicago," highlighting the pope's Chicago and U.S. roots, while the phrase "Da Pope" ─ a twist on an old "Saturday Night Live" skit about the Chicago Bears ─ has become part of the lexicon not only in the Windy City but the world, featured in memes and on T-shirts.
That enthusiasm has seen pilgrims deliver a frozen pizza from Aurelio's in Chicago all the way to St. Peter's Square (the restaurant now has a "Poperoni Pizza" on its menu), and more than 2 million lift slices ─ and prayers ─ in honor of his 70th birthday, as part of a spiritual bouquet offered by OSV News.
The Chicago White Sox ─ the pope's favorite sports team ─ has officially marked the seat where the future pope watched the first game of the 2005 World Series. The team's current co-owner invited Pope Leo to throw at the first pitch when a proposed new ballpark is completed.
In July, Pope Leo tapped the Chicago-based House of Hansen to provide the liturgical vestments for his inaugural celebration of the Mass for the care of creation.
Gerard Arens, who owns and operates the House of Hansen along with his wife, Ellen, told OSV News he already had the pope's measurements, since the former Cardinal Robert Prevost had been a previous customer.
In an interview with OSV News at the time, Arens admitted he "couldn't believe" when Pope Leo walked out onto the balcony at St. Peter's Square following his election as pope.
"He's a customer of ours," said Arens. "We've known him."
Chicago's Catholic Theological Union ─ where the future pope received his theological formation after undergraduate studies at Villanova University, and from which he received his master of divinity degree in 1982 ─ celebrated the former Cardinal Robert Prevost's election, collecting prayers for him and dedicating a webpage to him.
In the Philadelphia area, Villanova University ─ the Augustinian educational institution from which the future pope earned his bachelor's degree in mathematics in 1977, and an honorary doctorate in humanities in 2014 ─ has hailed Pope Leo's election as an opportunity to "reaffirm our commitment" to the school's educational mission.
Augustinian Father Peter M. Donohue, the university's president, described Pope Leo's election as a "new chapter of Catholic leadership."
Villanova faculty and students have traveled to Rome to meet with their school's most famous alumnus.
Off campus, Philadelphia billboards hailed Pope Leo's journey from Villanova Wildcat (the school's mascot) to shepherd of the Catholic Church ─ and from the Main Line, as the suburban area surrounding Villanova is known, to "the DIVINE LINE."
Pope Leo's fellow Augustinians in the U.S., particularly in the St. Thomas of Villanova and Our Mother of Good Counsel provinces, have recalled their years of living and working with the future pope.
St. Thomas prior provincial Father Robert Hagan described Pope Leo as someone who "always been a brother to us," one who encouraged him from his early days to his own leadership role in the order.
With so many ties to so many people and places in the U.S., Dugan said she and her students at Little Flower in Philadelphia feel "almost like a visible connection" with Pope Leo XIV.
"He's one of us," she repeated, adding, "God wants all of us to rise to that level of spiritual connection that Pope Leo has."
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Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
