With Pope Leo XIV being the first American pontiff, it could draw more people in the U.S. back to church, according to Br. Frank Connor, a member of the Order of Saint Augustine, a mendicant religious order within the Catholic Church.
Pope Leo XIV “being an American, first off, is historic. Then, being from Chicago specifically, I think it appeals to a lot of the people in the Midwest [and] in the middle of the country,” Connor said. “What’s significant about that for American Catholics is that… we have a pope that really understands us. And it’ll excite interest back in the church. I would suspect more people will start coming to Mass.”
The percentage of adults who report regularly attending religious services has dropped, with only 3 in 10 Americans saying they attend religious services every week, according to a 2024 Gallup poll. Only 9% reported going almost every week. About 11% reported attending about once a month, but 56% seldom went, according to the poll. Just over 30% never attend, the data showed.
Comparatively, an average of 42% of U.S. adults attended religious services every week or nearly every week two decades ago. Ten years ago, that figure slipped to 38%.
IN PICTURES: FROM CHICAGO PRIEST TO NEW POPE, THE HISTORIC RISE OF LEO XIV
Attendance isn’t directly correlated to how much a church makes in revenue, though churches primarily generate income through donations from members and their community.
That “personal connection,” according to Connor, “will really go a long way, especially in this country.”
The pontiff, born Robert Prevost on Sept. 14, 1955, in Chicago, was a suspected front-runner to succeed Pope Francis after his death. Francis, who suffered from chronic lung disease, died at age 88 in April, according to Cardinal Kevin Ferrell, the Vatican camerlengo.
Pope Leo XIV was first brought to the Vatican by Francis to serve as prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops in January 2023, which is one of the most important positions in the Catholic Church as it vets bishop nominations issued globally.
CARDINAL ROBERT PREVOST ANNOUNCED AS FIRST AMERICAN POPE, TAKING NAME LEO XIV
In August 1981, he gave his solemn vows. The following year he was ordained as a priest.
By 1985 he joined the Augustinian mission in Peru, where he served as chancellor of the Territorial Prélature of Chulucanas for one year.
Between 1987 and 1988, he returned to the U.S., where he served as pastor for vocations and director of missions for the Augustinian Province of Chicago, before he returned to Peru for another 10 years to head the Augustinian seminary in Trujillo and teach Cannon Law.
In 1999, he was back in the U.S. and elected provincial prior of the “Mother of Good Counsel” in Chicago.
Pope Leo XIV would go on to be elected twice as leader of the Augustinian religious order, a 13th century order founded by St. Augustine.
He had caught the attention of Francis, who, after becoming pope in 2013, moved Pope Leo XIV back to Peru in 2014 to serve as the administrator and eventually archbishop of Chiclayo.
Fox News’ Caitlin McFall contributed to this report.
Read the full article here
