7 Facts About the new Pope’s Time in Michigan
Once known as “Father Bob,” Pope Leo XIV’s path to the priesthood began right here in Michigan!
For several days this May, the world waited in anxious anticipation to hear who the new Pope would be after Pope Francis’s death from a stroke and heart failure. The election process of a new Pope is a tightly-kept secret, with cardinals from all over the world locking themselves into the Vatican to elect a new Pope.
The world is notified only through white or black smoke billowing from the top of the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City—white indicates a new Pope has been chosen, while black indicates the vote was unsuccessful in a consensus. For this election cycle, there was only one day of black smoke, and on May 8, white smoke alerted the world that a new Pope had been chosen. Robert Prevost, who took the name of Pope Leo XIV, was a surprising choice for many people, primarily because he is the world’s first American-born Pope and not a candidate that was high on anyone’s radar.
Also surprising? Not only is Pope Leo XIV the world’s first American-born Pope, but he’s also the world’s first Pope with a Michigan background. Who could have guessed the leader of the world’s largest Christian denomination would hail from little old Michigan? Here are some surprising facts about the new Pope’s time and past in Michigan.
1. He was born in Chicago
Ok, so Chicago isn’t Michigan, but it’s just around the corner, and nearly every Michigander has been to Chicago, so this almost feels like we can claim this one for ourselves.
Prevost, now 69, was born on September 14, 1955, in a working-class suburb of Chicago, Illinois. The area and neighborhood he grew up in were described as “simple” and full of hard-working people. His parents were Louis Marius Prevost, of French and Italian descent, and Mildred Martínez, of Spanish descent. Prevost also has two brothers, Louis Martín and John Joseph.
He did spend most of his young and formative life in the Chicago area, but the future Pope also took some detours up north to the Mitten State.
2. He went to high school in Holland, Michigan
The 267th leader of the Catholic Church went to high school right here in Michigan. He attended St. Augustine Seminary High School in Holland, which is located in West Michigan. The school was run by the Augustine Order of Chicago, but was located in the Michigan mansion originally built by businessman Dorr Felt for his family. Tragically, his wife died shortly after the mansion was built, so the estate was sold to the Saint Augustine Seminary.
Prevost graduated from the seminary in 1973. He was one of the last graduating classes, as the seminary was closed and the building was sold to the Michigan State Police, who used it for offices for several years. The state also turned part of the grounds into a prison and the Saugatuck State Park.
In 2024, the future Pope spoke of his time in Michigan, naming a Michigan teacher who helped shape his early views as a discerning future priest. “One of my teachers in high school, Fr. Reinhard Sternemann … He was in Holland for my years there and was a really dedicated teacher and Augustinian,” Fr. Prevost said in a speech.
The Felt Estate now functions as a private event rental venue. It was privately purchased and restored in the early 2000s.
“As a site with deep historical ties to faith and community, the Felt Estate recognizes this historic moment as one of profound significance—not only for the Catholic Church but also for people in West Michigan and around the world who believe in the values of service, unity, and stewardship,” read a release from the estate.
It does open to the public for tours, especially around the holidays, so if you’d like to visit the building the former Pope once lived in, you can book a tour online.
3. He performed baptisms in Niles, Michigan
The future Pope also baptized three brothers at a parish in Niles, Michigan, only eleven short years ago, in 2014. At the time, Fr. Prevost, who was known fondly as Father Bob, helped serve in various capacities among area churches, including filling in for baptisms when needed.
So when St. Mary’s Parish in Niles, Mich. needed a hand baptizing three young brothers, he didn’t hesitate. Stuart, Sawyer, and Samuel Lundberg of Buchanan were all baptized in 2014 by the helpful priest who would go on to become the Pope.
4. He also performed a baptism at St. Matthew Parish in Flint, Michigan
Continuing his trend of filling in and helping wherever he was needed, Fr. Prevost also filled in as a pastor for a week in 1999 at St. Matthew’s Parish in Flint, Michigan. During that time, he performed a baptism on Flint native Alaina Skellet when she was a baby.
Fr. Prevost filled in for his friend, Father Fred Taggart OSA, who was away on retreat at the time, so the duty of performing the Sacrament of baby Skellet fell to him. Skillet’s father, Jim, had actually met Fr. Prevost before, at the parish’s 75th anniversary celebrations in 1986. Jim even spent six months with Father Prevost at the Augustinian seminary in Chicago before Fr. Prevost left for Peru (and Jim left the seminary to eventually be married and become a father!). However, the two men kept in touch, and Skellet told ABC News 12 she cherishes a photo she has of the future Bishop of Rome at her baptism.
“My favorite photo is the one where he’s just looking at me as a baby, and I think that speaks to his caring and his generosity, and it really touches my heart seeing that picture and then knowing what he becomes, because it reminds me of Jesus,” she said.
Now engaged to be married, Skillet has also dutifully invited the Pope to her wedding. Do we think he will make a return back to the States?
5. He was ordained as a deacon in Detroit, Michigan
According to Detroit Catholic, the future Pope was ordained a deacon in Michigan due to a change in where ordinations took place. The outlet explained that normally, transitional deacon ordinations for Midwest Augustinians happened in Chicago, but the year that Prevost was ordained—in 1981—they took place in southeast Michigan.
More specifically, the future Pope took his holy orders at St. Clare of Montefalco Parish in Grosse Pointe Park, one of three Augustinian-run parishes in the Archdiocese of Detroit at the time.
His entire life of ordained ministry began right here in Michigan! Janet Guensche, a parishioner and former secretary of the parish, attended the future Pope’s ordination and remembers him as humble and “a quiet man until you got to know him.”
6. He held several Masses in Michigan
According to WWMT, the future Bishop of Rome also celebrated Mass at several parishes in Michigan throughout his years as a deacon and priest, including in:
- St. Mary’s of Immaculate Conception in Niles
- Our Lady of the Lake Parish in Edwardsburg
- St. Peter Parish in Douglas
- Blessed Sacrament in Allegan
7. He put the “Ope” in Pope
Last, but not least, Michigan Public described the ultimate tie of Pope Leo to the Midwest, lovingly noting that the new Bishop of Rome “puts the ‘Ope’ in ‘Pope.” Enough said.
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