Photo credit: Ward Miller / Preservation Chicago and Serhii Chrucky / Esto

Pope Leo XIV’s Childhood Church and School, St. Mary of the Assumption church is now vacant and with a large hole in the roof. 

Chicago Landmark Designation of St. Mary of the Assumption / St. Mary’s Church and campus would protect the church from demolition and unlock funding options to restore these buildings that were so formative for Pope Leo XIV during his childhood.

In the 1960’s, St. Mary’s Church and School was at the center of a vibrant Catholic community in the Riverdale neighborhood on Chicago’s South Side. 

It was here that a young Robert Francis Prevost and future Pope was an active member of the parish where he attended mass and served as an altar boy.

This midcentury modern church was designed by George S. Smith and built in 1957 and the first mass was celebrated in the church on August 15, 1957. St. Mary’s / St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church at 310 E. 137th Street and campus is located at 138th and Leyden Avenue in Chicago.

Overview: St. Mary’s Church, also known as St. Mary of the Assumption Church and School, was organized in 1886 to initially serve 30 German Catholic families. Located at 138th and Leyden Avenue, it’s in the Riverdale community in the furthest southern part of Chicago. An early one-story combination of church and school building, constructed in 1918, was designed by Hermann Gaul, and the parish school building next to the church that followed in the 1920s. The mid-century church structure, designed in a simplified Renaissance style, was completed in 1957 by Chicago architect George S. Smith.

With the election of Pope Leo XIV (Robert Prevost) in 2025, the St. Mary’s Church and School complex gained national and international historic significance as his childhood parish. Pope Leo lived in Dolton, a village adjacent to Riverdale and the southern border of Chicago. He grew up in the parish, where he served as an altar boy, sang in the choir and attended the parish elementary school. The church campus played a key role in the early life and formation of the first American-born pope.

Threat: Unfortunately, the parish has been out of operation since 2011 and merged with nearby parishes due to its declining membership. The vacant church and school buildings have experienced significant deterioration because of a damaged roof and windows. Efforts are being made to preserve the property. In May 2025, Preservation Chicago formally requested designation of the church as a Chicago Landmark to protect it from demolition and support its restoration.

Originally known simply as “St. Mary’s,” St. Mary of the Assumption Church and School suffered over time from consolidation of the church and parish and closure of the school and campus. The buildings stood vacant for over a decade and were finally sold. Unfortunately, extensive deterioration occurred and funds are needed today to restore the seven buildings on the campus. Capital improvements must be made to all of the structures, dating from 1917 to 1957. This is particularly important today given the significance of the site as the childhood church and school of the first American Pope in history.

For a half century, Chicago’s Riverdale neighborhood has experienced disinvestment and demographic changes that left behind a community with fewer and fewer resources. At the far southern corner of Chicago near Dalton, Illinois, Pope Leo’s childhood home is a place where many Chicagoans probably never visited before. It’s far from downtown Chicago and the more dense and popular Lakefront communities, which have so many resources.

We believe there is a path toward renewal. However, funds must be secured in the immediate future or the buildings are at risk of further deterioration – and perhaps demolition in the future. We’re encouraging all parties and stakeholders to work together, along with the City of Chicago and the State of Illinois, to help move preservation and restoration forward quickly.

Recommendations: St. Mary of the Assumption Church and School is a remarkable campus located in the Riverdale neighborhood of Chicago that has experienced a half-century of disinvestment. It requires partnerships to be formed and a large infusion of capital funds to stabilize and restore this campus of buildings that dates back to 1917.

All of this is possible. The fact that Pope Leo XIV, a respected world leader, head of state and first American-born Pope, spent his most formative years at this church and school can spur revisioning of the site. It could also provide opportunities to encourage reinvestment in this far south-side community overall.

Realizing that Pope Leo holds incredible influence over many aspects of world diplomacy and is the respected leader of over 1.3 billion Catholics across the globe, this campus could easily become a pilgrimage site for visitors from all over the world. 

Such an idea and vision is a unique opportunity that could greatly benefit the Riverdale Community of Chicago, as well as the South Suburbs, in addition to the City of Chicago, which was once the largest Archdiocese in the United States. Most importantly there’s the opportunity to rebuild this community which has suffered from racial changes and give hope to an area that has few resources, like other communities in and around Chicago.

We at Preservation Chicago are of the opinion that St. Mary of the Assumption Church Campus should once again be a great source of pride to the community and to Chicago. We would very much like to see a partnership form to save these buildings and tell the story of this world leader.

An initial step in this process would be to consider a Chicago Landmark Designation of the buildings of this campus, with a plan to methodically restore and repurpose each of the buildings. Such plans could include a small chapel and shrine within the former church sanctuary dedicated to this new world leader, that once hailed from Chicago and nearby Dalton. The other structures could serve a variety of purposes, which would generate income and a source of pride.

But most importantly recognizing Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church home and school having a profound influence on this remarkable individual–now a respected world leader among nations, joined with his continuing service to humanity and the world.

Media coverage:

"The Pope's Church" / St. Mary’s / St. Mary of the Assumption Roman Catholic Church, a Preservation Chicago 2026 Chicago 7 Most Endangered, 1957, George S. Smith, 310 E. 137th Street​

Most endangered Chicago buildings list includes Pope Leo’s childhood church and Art Institute trading room, Robert Channick, Chicago Tribune, 3/4/26​

Will Art Institute expansion leave Louis Sullivan’s Chicago Stock Exchange room in the cold? No decision has been made, but the museum says “the east side of the building — where the Trading Room is located — represents the area where gallery space could increase the most.”, Lee Bey, Chicago Sun-Times, 3/4/26​

These are the most endangered places in Chicago, Dennis Rodkin, Crain's Chicago Business, 3/4/26