1 INSIGHT HOSPITAL
2525 S. Michigan Ave.
The future pope was born here, at what was then Mercy Hospital, in 1955. Well, not actually here. Back then, the hospital was located on the block just to the east. That building was torn down after the new one went up in 1968. The space is now a parking lot.
2 CHILDHOOD HOME
212 E. 141st Pl., Dolton
Visitors and media from 2 near and far — as well as police parked out front — are the new normal on this unassuming south suburban street. Dolton is maneuvering to acquire the modest brick abode, which the Prevost family sold in 1996, and all the empty lots and homes on the block have been bought up since the pope’s election. Leave your prayer requests in a box set up outside one neighbor’s house.
3 ST. MARY OF THE ASSUMPTION
310 E. 137th St.
This now-closed church is where little Bobby Prevost received his sacraments, served as an altar boy, and sang in a choir. Visitors were allowed in for a few days in May following the pope’s election, but the deteriorated building is now boarded up again. Fresh flowers frequently decorate the front steps.
4 CATHOLIC THEOLOGICAL UNION
5416 S. Cornell Ave.
A life-size cardboard cutout of Leo in the lobby and perhaps a bus full of tourists now welcome you. But it was in the school’s previous location, across the street at 5401 South Cornell, in what’s now an apartment building, that Prevost earned his master of divinity in 1982.
5 ST. RITA OF CASCIA HIGH SCHOOL
7740 S. Western Ave.
A huge Vatican flag now flies in front of this Augustinian prep school, though it was at an old location, on 63rd Street and Claremont Avenue, that a newly ordained Father Bob started his ministry, as a math and physics substitute teacher. Images on the electronic display board outside alert those driving by to the school’s most famous honorary alumnus.
6 AURELIO’S PIZZA
18162 Harwood Ave., Homewood
The oldest of the chain’s locations knows how to celebrate (read: cash in on) the new pope, with entrance banners proclaiming this spot as a Prevost favorite. You’ll find photos posted of the pontiff’s visit here last August. Sadly, you can’t enjoy your Poperoni pie at the table where he ate (now dubbed the “pope’s table”), as diners are no longer seated there. A wooden church-style high-back seat was added for gravitas.
7 RATE FIELD
333 W. 35th St.
It was in section 140, row 19, seat 2 that the future pope cheered on the White Sox during Game 1 of the 2005 World Series. The section entrance, now marked with pope artwork, has become a popular selfie spot, though the exact “holy seat” bears no signage.
Photography: (Pope) Getty; (Insight, home, St. Mary, Rate Field, Aurelio’s) Chicago Tribune; (Theological Union, St. Rita) courtesy of schools