Peruvians in Chicago are celebrating the election of Pope Leo XIV, a Chicagoan who spent two decades of service in Peru, as the elevation of one of their own.

“We have an American Peruvian pope,” said Betty Lazaro, 62, who started crying when she learned the news. “I couldn’t believe it.”

Robert Francis Prevost, 69, was born in Chicago and grew up in south suburban Dolton, and attended a Catholic school on the South Side. He then spent years serving the poor in Peru starting in the mid-1980s, a time when the country experienced terrorism and internal conflict, mostly in the countryside. He eventually gained Peruvian citizenship, the Associated Press reported.

That’s around the time that Lazaro immigrated to Chicago. “I was in college, and Peru was suffering a lot of terrorism.”

Lazaro has lived in the city for 32 years. She is a parishioner at Our Lady of Mercy in Albany Park, a church she says has many parishioners from Peru and other Central and South American countries. She is excited to attend Mass on Sunday because Lazaro thinks between Mother’s Day and the news about the pope, her church is going to be packed.

She also has big expectations for Pope Leo. Even while many are celebrating the new appointment, the new pope has also been criticized for how he handled situations involving priests accused of sexual abuse.

Moving forward, Lazaro wants the pope to have zero tolerance for sexual abuse and expects he will carry on the legacy of the late Pope Francis and his call to advocate for the poor and vulnerable.

Rubén Pachas, 49, is from Peru and has lived in Chicago for 20 years. He teaches Spanish and Latin American studies around the Chicago area and leads the Center of Peruvian Arts, which connects students and others to the cultural traditions of Peru. He says his heart skipped a beat when his friend texted to ask how he felt about the new leader of the Catholic Church being from Chicago and Peru.

“I was feeling so excited because he was an immigrant in Peru,” Pachas said, adding that Pope Leo XIV knows how it feels to start from zero in a foreign country. Pachas is hopeful that being an American, Pope Leo XIV will be better positioned to challenge President Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant agenda.

Sara Izquierdo stands in front of Taste of Peru, her parents’ restaurant at 6545 N. Clark St. in Rogers Park.

Sara Izquierdo, 30, is Peruvian American and a third-year medical student at the University of Illinois College of Medicine Chicago. She also directs the student-led mobile migrant health team in the city. Her parents own a Peruvian restaurant called Taste of Peru in Rogers Park.

Izquierdo was with her parents in their living room watching the announcement of the new pope Thursday.

“My mom says, ‘OK, he’s coming out,’” Izquierdo said. They were shocked when they saw Prevost. “Wait, he’s the American candidate,” she said. And their reactions kept escalating. “He’s the American Peruvian from Chicago.’ We were over the moon.”

Izquierdo says she hopes his life experiences as a United States citizen and a priest in Latin America have given him a more informed view about issues affecting migration.

“I’m hoping that his global experience lends really well into negotiating power,” Izquierdo said. She would love to see Pope Leo XIV be a strong voice to protect human rights in the face of violations that are being reported in the United States and in El Salvador.

“I’m hoping, as someone who’s going to be leading the Catholic Church and is now a religious world leader, he is able to speak out against that very clearly.”

Adriana Cardona-Maguigad covers immigration for WBEZ. Follow her on X @AdrianaCardMag .