Village of Dolton celebrates Pope Leo XIV’s 70th birthday with gospel music, balloons

DOLTON, Ill. — The Chicago suburb where Pope Leo XIV grew up marked his 70th birthday Sunday with gospel music and a balloon release outside his boyhood home.

A small crowd attended the festivities outside the modest brick house in the village of Dolton, where the former Robert Prevost grew up after he was born in 1955 in Chicago, about 20 miles away.

“It’s a good time for the community to come together,” said Village President Jason House. “It shows that great people come out of the village of Dolton.”

The village purchased the house in July in hopes of boosting tourism and claiming a piece of papal history of the first American pope. They’re also trying to drum up a positive message about the community where there’s been political turmoil in recent years, including misspending allegations surrounding a previous mayor.

“It could be a museum, there’s historic status, there’s business enterprise zones, there’s partnerships with members of the archdiocese,” House said.

Village officials said they tried to contact the pope but did not hear back.

When he was elected in May at age 69, he was the youngest pope since 1978, when Karol Wojtyla was elected Pope John Paul II at age 58. Leo has dual U.S. and Peruvian citizenship given his 20 years of missionary experience in Peru.

“I really like what he stands for: peace, love and we need more of that today,” Dolton resident Thelma Price said.

His birthday was celebrated at the Vatican during his traditional noon blessing, where he saw “Happy birthday” banners, in English, Italian and Spanish and balloons held up by those gathered in St. Peter’s Square.

In Dolton, photographs of him as a child and as pope were displayed outside the three-bedroom house.

Leo’s family lived there until the mid-1990s, witnessing big demographic changes over the years. Once a town of a few thousand where most residents were white, Dolton is now a community of roughly 20,000 where most residents are Black.

Attendees prayed for the pope’s health and leadership. There was an a cappella rendition of the gospel hit “Break Every Chain,” along with the Stevie Wonder version of “Happy Birthday.” Silver balloons in the shape of stars were released into the sky.

“We hope people feel welcome,” House said.

Chuck Hildebrandt and his wife, Terrie Wendricks, who live on the North Side say they were running an errand near the pope’s old home and stumbled upon the party, not realizing he turned 70.

“While we were in the area, we thought ‘Why don’t we go check out where the pope lives,’ so we came here and didn’t expect this,” Hildebrandt said.

As they celebrate Pope Leo’s big day, Dolton residents and clergy say they’re grateful for the positivity the new pontiff brings to the village.

“Something good can come out of Dolton and Pope Leo is one of the former residents of this village and so many like him have done great things for the world,” Apostle Kanayo Odeluga of Christ Oasis Ministries said.