Then-Bishop Robert Prevost of Peru walks down the aisle during a 2016 Augustinian ordination Mass at St. Rita Church in Chicago. Behind Prevost is then-seminarian Andy Matijevic, who is now associate pastor at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of the Rev. Andy Matijevic)

The Rev. Andy Matijevic has some impressive bragging rights.

“I told the future pope what to do,” Matijevic quipped.

It was 2016 and Matijevic, then a seminarian, was the emcee for an Augustinian ordination Mass at St. Rita Church in Chicago. Basically, it was Matijevic’s job to make sure the liturgy went off without a hitch and to make sure that then-Bishop Robert Prevost of Peru knew where to go and stand and the proper procedures at certain parts of the Mass.

“As seminarians, you are able to emcee and I am a friend of the Augustinian order, so I have emceed a lot. “I don’t know whether I am good at it or not, but no one died,” Matijevic joked. “Everyone got out alive, so I call it a success.”

Fast forward to May 8 and Matijevic, now an associate pastor at Holy Name Cathedral in Chicago, was spending his day off at his parents’ house in Palatine.

“I hadn’t had a day off in a while, so I said I was going to my parents’ house,” Matijevic said. “I said if the pope is elected, I will handle it from there.”

He watched on television as there was white smoke and the start of the announcement that the new pope was “Cardinal Robert … .” Matijevic’s mind started racing.

“I only know two cardinals named Robert,” he said. “Robert Prevost and Robert Sarah of Africa. I thought of Prevost and that there could be an American and Chicagoan as pope.

“When he walked out onto the balcony, I said, ‘Mom, I know him. He is from Chicago. He ministered here.’ There was a lot of shock.”

Matijevic said his 2016 encounter with now-Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago and raised in south suburban Dolton, was memorable.

Pope Leo XIV waves to the crowd gathered in St. Peter’s Square after being chosen for the church’s top post. (@Vatican Media)

“He was very down to earth. He was in a place he was not familiar with and was very approachable,” the Holy Name associate pastor said. “I joked with him and he laughed. He made me feel seen, like I was the only one he was focused on. I felt drawn to him.”

Matijevic said he is happy to be living in this historic moment where an individual with Chicago and American roots is leading the Catholic Church.

A priest since 2021, Matijevic said he is not sure whether the “unspoken rule” of an American not being pope has been broken,

“He is American-born, but not through-and-through American,” Matijevic said. “I don’t know if he was seen as an American candidate.”

Pope Leo XIV, who was born in Chicago and raised in south suburban Dolton, says a prayer before addressing the masses after being named pope. (@Vatican Media)

Matijevic said some of the anti-American history in earlier papal selections may stem from Americans not making conclaves in time to select the pope due to modes of transportation being slower in earlier times.

“Plus, they view it as ‘America is a super power. It has business. It has sports,’” he said. “They view it as ‘America has everything. Why do they need the papacy?’”

Matijevic said the attention now on Catholicism in this country could be a boost for the Catholic Church of America.

“It is like when a sports team wins, it is a boost for the city,” Matijevic said. “American Catholics will be seen in the global church and in the world. “

The Holy Name associate pastor reminded local Catholics that an American taking over the Catholic Church is not something about which to be boasting.

“We are reminded not to brag. It is not a position to seek,” Matijevic said. “It is a position that God calls one to. It is a thoughtful, humbling position.”

Some see Leo, an Augustinian, as being more to the right in his views and positions than Pope Francis, a Jesuit, was.

Matijevic said he is not so sure where Leo will be on positions.

“He is Augustinian, so it will be about community, looking to bring together all human beings and bring them into God’s kingdom,” Matijevic said.

Matijevic encouraged local Catholics to keep Leo in their prayers.

“Continue to pray for him,” he said, “We should be proud of him being from Chicago, but that is just an invitation and a duty to pray for his success and him being a ministry agent and bridge builder for humanity as a whole.”

‘Event to celebrate’

The St. Mary of the Assumption Church bulletin from Aug. 14, 1983, advertising Prevost’s first Mass at the Dolton parish following ordination. Prevost stayed in Rome for an extra year to finish his studies after being ordained in 1982. (Photo courtesy of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center)

Cardinal Blase Cupich, archbishop of the Chicago archdiocese, said that in just two weeks we said goodbye to Francis, entered a time of uncertainty and “now have a remarkable event to celebrate as Catholics, Chicagoans and people of good will.”

He said the fact that more than 130 cardinal electors from more than 70 countries could come to a decision in less than 24 hours is a clear sign of the unity so needed in a world torn by division and conflict.

“Many here know Pope Leo XIV as Robert Prevost, a classmate, friend and neighbor,” Cupich said in a statement. “Our pride in him as a native son is exceeded only by our pride in his service to the People of God and to our Church.”

Cupich said as a missionary, Leo knows firsthand the needs of those at the margins and holds them close.

St. Mary of the Assumption Church circa 1986. (Photo courtesy of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center)

“We expect he will carry on the regard for the poor so associated with Pope Francis but will lead us and teach us in his own way,” Cupich said. “His choice of name recalls Pope Leo XIII who defended the dignity of workers at a time when concerns for their rights were scarce.

“This earlier Pope Leo, generally considered the father of Catholic social teaching, placed our church firmly in the world, speaking against injustice and for peace. As wars and discord continue and some deny human dignity with their words and deeds, such a voice is clearly needed.”

Leo XIII was head of the Catholic Church from 1878 to 1903, the fourth longest reign of any pontiff.

Cupich called for prayer and rejoicing in this time of a new pope.

The St. Mary’s School Class of 1969 graduates. Prevost is fourth from the left in the second from the bottom row. (Photo courtesy of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center)

“I hope you will take a minute to say a prayer of thanksgiving to the Holy Spirit who surely was with us in this time,” the cardinal said. “Let us rejoice that he has once again given us a Holy Father who will represent our values boldly and lead us to greater closeness with Jesus.”

Cupich said the sympathy shown when Francis passed was touching.

“Know that I am deeply grateful for the prayers you offered for the repose of the soul of Pope Francis,” he said. “The outpouring of condolences, including from people of other faith traditions, was remarkable.

“His example of a happy death was his last gift to us. It is my wish that people of the Archdiocese of Chicago and beyond now offer their prayers to Pope Leo XIV as he takes up the work of lighting the world with God’s love.”

‘The change we need’

Matthew Plese, who runs a Chicago-based online Catholic religious education business, said he was thrilled when Cardinal Robert Prevost, who has Chicago roots, was named pope.

“It is a great sense of local pride,” Plese said. “After all these years for one of us to become pope means so much.

“I know people who know his family. So many people have said they grew up with him. There is a unique sense of pride.”

Plese, a Chicago resident and president of CatechismClass.com, is hopeful that Leo will turn the Catholic Church back to its traditional roots.

Pope John Paul II congratulates Prevost following his 1982 ordination in Rome. (Photo courtesy of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center)

“There are people who went to Catholic school for 12 years who do not know the fullness of the faith,” he said. “We try to teach them. One of the crises of our faith is that people do not know what the Church’s views are. People leave the Church because they do not know what its views are.”

Plese said Francis attacked traditional-minded Catholics by doing things like limiting Masses said in Latin.

“People felt ostracized,” he said. “People had to drive more than one or two hours to go to a Latin Mass.”

Plese said at the end of the 1800s, Chicago was known as “The City of the Sacred Heart.” He hoped some of the reverence returns with a pope with Chicago roots.

“It was a very Catholic city,” Plese said. “Now, so many Catholic churches here are boarded up or turned into condominiums.

“Hopefully, with Pope Leo being from Chicago we can ignite that belief again and spread the faith.”

Plese hoped that the new pope will change things that were “alienating” to many Catholics during Francis’ reign.

Millie Prevost, the pope’s mother; and an unidentified family member or friend in 1986. She was considered a “church lady,” who was at Mass every day, cleaned altars and sang in the church choir. She died in 1990 in Chicago. (Photo courtesy of the Joseph Cardinal Bernardin Archives and Records Center)

“I hope he will undo a lot of the negative changes,” Plese said. “I think Pope Francs went too far in many respects. He was not clear in a lot of things with his message. I don’t think he really understood how to manage the Church.

“He was alienating to a lot of traditional Catholic families. I hope the new pope is not ambiguous. That he says, “Here it is and this is why it is true.’”

Plese, who grew up in Joliet, said he hoped Leo will generate a resurgence of faith, especially with young people.

“It is a big job. He has his work cut out for him,” Plese said. “He has big shoes to fill.”

Plese said a lot of people have speculated on where Leo stands “on this issue and that issue.”

“I just hope he will be clear,” Plese said. “Our role is to pray for him. Discussions and what ifs and going down rabbit holes, that is not the job for Catholics.

“We need to remember him in our prayers. He has an awesome responsibility. When he came out on the balcony, you could see the enormity of the job on his face.

“He is from Chicago. He is one of us. This is a time of great joy.”

kbeese@chronicleillinois.com