News
Marty Center Executive Director Emily Crews on Pope Leo's Childhood Church for the Chicago Tribune
May 10, 2025
Laura Mathews, left, and Antoinette Nuzzo visit the former St. Mary of the Assumption Church at the corner of South Leyden Avenue and East 137th Street on May 8, 2025, in Chicago. (John J. Kim/Chicago Tribune)
The Chicago Tribune interviewed Emily Crews, executive director of the Martin Marty Center for the Public Study of Religion for a piece entitled, "How the new Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church in Chicago fell into disrepair — and what may lie ahead."
"Emily Crews, a scholar of religious life at the University of Chicago Divinity School, said it would be “fascinating” to observe whether St. Mary’s or Leo’s childhood home, a few blocks away on the 200 block of East141st Place in Dolton, draw religious tourists or pilgrims given their newfound significance to the history of the church. A key factor will be whether the archdiocese would buy either the church or the home, she said."
Read the full story here: https://www.chicagotribune.com/2025/05/10/pope-leo-robert-prevost-childhood-church-chicago/