Simone Orendain

Pope Leo XIV's brother Augustinians and others from the Chicago-area looked back with gratitude on the past year since the election of one of their own at a special Mass May 8.

"I think it's just really connected with people ... how normal Pope Leo is," said Augustinian Fr. Tom McCarthy.

The first publicly recognized Black Catholic priest in the United States — who has already had 40 potential miracles through his intercession investigated — is now getting his own national shrine in western Illinois where he grew up and once served.

One year in, Pope Leo XIV's papacy has been rooted in truth, unity and love — the distinct gifts of his religious order, the Order of St. Augustine — making him a shepherd who leads with a blend of bridge-building and truth-telling, according to those who know him well and from afar.

Catholics in Chicago have expressed sympathy and sorrow over the death of a Loyola University Chicago student who was shot and killed March 19 near the school campus.

The fledgling Catholic farming program of the Edmundite Misisons has distributed $78,000 to 19 farmers in central Alabama to assist with farming supplies including seeds, piping for irrigation and cold storage.

Catholic leaders, including an official from the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' migration office, reiterated a pastoral approach to the issue of child detentions by Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

The decree, dated Dec. 23, noted the increase in immigration enforcement activities in the Diocese of Columbus has created "a rise in fear and anxiety" in its immigrant community.

Jesuit priests and seminarians plus some laity found the remains of two women after they scoured an 80-mile stretch of the Chihuahuan Desert in a search for migrants, living or dead, who crossed the U.S.-Mexico border.

A stakeholder — and next owner — of the Chicago White Sox baseball team said Pope Leo XIV told him that he'd "love to" throw a season opening first pitch in the future — "schedule permitting."

On Nov. 2, the feast of All Souls, Catholics in Chicago joined in commemorating the great Irish famine that left more than 1 million people dead and began the mass exodus of Irish refugees and migrants seeking a better life to the United States and other countries 180 years ago.

If Gov. JB Pritzker signs it, Illinois would become the 12th state with such legislation. He has 60 days to act.

Pope Leo XIV said prayers for victims of a 6.9 magnitude earthquake in the central part of the Philippines that killed at least 72 people late Sept. 30, according to Archbishop Alberto Uy of Cebu.

"You showed the world what faith, spirit, and brotherhood look like," Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich told the singers. "Keep singing, leading, believing. God's not done with you."

Clergy and religious along with lay Catholic faithful came out in droves at an anti-corruption rally in the Philippines capital of Manila Sept. 21 that drew tens of thousands of protesters.

"He's a great model because he does a lot of the stuff we do," one eighth grader said. "But … he went to church every day. 

Pope Leo XIV turns 70 on Sept. 14 and some of his closest friends in the Chicago-area will mark the day with him in mind, quietly.

Hosted by the Archdiocese of Santa Fe July 13, the group observed the 80th anniversary of the first ever atomic bomb test that took place in south-central New Mexico by highlighting concerns over the devastating effects and mass destruction wrought by nuclear weapons.

A spokesperson for the Village of Dolton, Illinois, said the community is working to have the house named a historical site, which would make it eligible for federal and state funding for preservation.