In the United States, Dolton, the cradle of Leon XIV, starts to dream

“Be careful, the area can be dangerous. Scott Kuzminsky is on guard when he arrives in front of his old church, Sainte-Marie-de-l’Assomption. Founded in the 1950s in Dolton, a municipality at the forefront of the disadvantaged south of the Chicago agglomeration, this place was sixty years ago, the Pope Leon’s childhood parish. It closed in 2012, for lack of faithful.

Real estate agent who attended the church and the school attached to him, Scott is one of those who want to resuscitate it. Since the pope’s election, he has shared his archives on Facebook. While former parishioners are mobilizing to have it classified as a Historic Monument, “Saint Mary’s” will certainly be mentioned during a large celebration organized in a local stadium by the Archdiocese of Chicago, Saturday June 14, in homage to the child of the country.

The latter will be expressed by video. “Sainte-Marie should become a completely revitalized pilgrimage place, with a parking lot, a shop, additional buildings,” enthuses Scott along one of the walls covered with ivy. “It was a miracle that a pope could have come from such a modest parish. She has been forgotten so far. »»

Vibrant lair of Catholic workers’ families during the post-war period, she experienced a slow death. In question: the closure of local factories and the White Flight, phenomenon by which the white population leaves urban areas as they become more diverse on the racial level.

The gangs settled in Dolton. Local shops have left. And before the pope’s election, the city of 20,000 souls, crossed by freight trains that paralyze traffic, was mainly talking about her for her former mayor, stuck in business.

Located a few streets from the church, Robert Prevost’s childhood house embodies this decline. “In recent years, the people who lived there trafficked there, have been fighting. There was a lot of violence… ”explains Donna Sagna-Davis, the African-American who lives next to it. Elegant in her black outfit, this Christian involved in several social causes takes advantage of the constant flow of curious to pray with them for the “healing” of Dolton. “If the pope returned here, it would show this city in a different light. “She already feels a change:” Before her election, nobody spoke in the street. Today, he helps us to take shape. »»

Met in front of the old church of Léon, Rafael Diaz thinks he can rekindle the Catholic faith in his hometown. Tattooed to the neck, this 36 -year -old delivery man of Brazilian origin turned from the church. But it is inspired by the new pontiff, with which he shares Louisiana Creole roots (descendants of people of African and European colored in New Orleans). “We both grew up in southern Chicago and embodies the same racial complexity. I am black, it is white. But I feel close to him. Today, he only dreams of one thing: to see him celebrate a mass in Dolton.