ROME - The new Chicago-raised Pope Leo XIV faces an immediate challenge in his native country: taming the brawling U.S. tribe of Catholics, riven by political divisions that have thwarted the will of his predecessors.

"It's been an unbelievable week, obviously, for all of us," said Mark Duffey, who was ordained as a deacon at St. Thomas of Villanova Parish in Palatine.

Many sites associated with past popes’ lives have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful. But Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church in Chicago closed years ago.