Town where Pope Leo XIV grew up seeks to acquire his childhood home

CNA Staff, May 22, 2025 / 09:21 am (CNA).

The village of Dolton, a suburb just south of Chicago and the hometown of Pope Leo XIV, is seeking to acquire his childhood home for use as a historical site.

Steve Budzik, the home’s listing broker, told CNA he and the home’s current owner, Pawel Radzik, are eager to work with the village and come to an agreement. 

“The seller wants to sell and the village wants to buy,” Budzik told CNA. “The question is: How do we determine what is fair market value for something so unique, so rare? There are no comps, there is nothing else like this.”

According to Budzik, they received a letter from the village last week indicating its interest in purchasing the home. The letter said the Archdiocese of Chicago is also working with the city to acquire the home. The archdiocese did not respond to a request for comment. 

According to village attorney Burt Odelson, Dolton would like to purchase the home, which was listed for sale in January, in order to turn it into a publicly accessible historic site. If an agreement on price cannot be reached, however, Odelson told Fox2Now the village will attempt to acquire the home by eminent domain. 

“We have a legal right to take the property for public use. That’s the key word — public use. A historic site is public use,” he said.

Recently-elected Dolton Mayor Jason House told ABC7 Chicago that the village will only use that option if current negotiations fail. 

Last year, Radzik paid $66,000 for the three-bedroom, three-bathroom, 1,050-square-foot home at 212 E. 141st Place. After extensive remodels, it was listed for sale for $219,000 in January. The price dropped to $199,900 in April.

Upon learning on May 8 that the home had belonged to the newly elected pope’s parents, who bought the house from the builder in 1949 and lived in it for decades, the owner removed it from the market “to regroup” and reassess the situation, according to Budzik.  

About a week later, after enlisting the help of Paramount Realty USA in order to sell the house at a closed bid auction, Radzik put the house back on the market. Bids are currently active and are open until June 18.

However, House told ABC7 Chicago that if anyone else purchases the house through the auction, they should know that their purchase would only be “temporary” because the city will still attempt to acquire it through eminent domain. 

The listing states the home is “a piece of papal history,” calling it “a one-of-a-kind opportunity” with “a story of transformation, legacy, and limitless potential,” and where a buyer can “own a place where history was made.”

“Born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago and raised right here in Dolton, Pope Leo XIV’s journey from this humble neighborhood to the Vatican is a testament to faith, perseverance, and purpose. Now, you have the rare chance to own a tangible piece of his inspiring legacy,” the listing says. 

This past Monday, Dolton officials moved to rename a portion of 141st Place after the first U.S.-born pope, Budzik told CNA.

Ward Miller of the group Preservation Chicago, a nonprofit advocacy organization dedicated to preserving historic sites of Chicago and encouraging landmark designations in the city, told CNA that while the home will not be a candidate for historic landmark designation through the city of Chicago because it falls outside its service area, he hopes it will receive a local Dolton landmark designation at the very least.

He said that “would not stop the house from eventually being” listed as a National Register of Historic places site “or even a National Historic Landmark.”  

Miller is advocating for Pope Leo’s childhood parish, St. Mary of the Assumption, which is within the city’s jurisdiction, to receive a Chicago landmark designation. A petition has been set up for the purpose. 

The parish has been vacant since 2011. “A Chicago landmark designation is the only thing that will keep the building from being demolished,” Miller told CNA. It was purchased recently by Joel Hall, who told ABC7 Chicago he is open to pursuing the Chicago landmark designation. 

Miller told CNA that Preservation Chicago went before a committee of the Commission on Chicago Landmarks last Friday recommending the creation of a landmark district that would include many of the sites — including St. Mary of the Assumption — associated with Pope Leo XIV. 

He said he hopes the decision to create the landmark district will be expedited considering the “phenomenal, remarkable thing that happened” with Prevost’s election to the papacy.

This is “a chance for Chicago to rise to the top,” Miller, a Catholic, told CNA. “It’s amazing, the first American pope, and he’s from Chicago!”

Source: https://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/264263/town-where-pope-leo-xiv-grew-up-seeks-to-acquire-his-childhood-home