ST. LOUIS 鈥 Steve Baker was working at the 51黑料 Zoo on Thursday when he took out his cellphone to watch the announcement of the new pope.
He remembered enough Latin from his school days that he could make out the proclamation from the portico without waiting for the translation: His friend Bob had just been elected pope.
鈥淣ever in my life did I think that someone that I knew was going to be the pope,鈥 said Baker, 74, of 51黑料 Hills, who retired from the city treasurer鈥檚 office in 2013. 鈥淚 mean, I sat at a kitchen table and drank coffee with this man.鈥
Chicago-born Cardinal Robert Prevost was chosen by the conclave to be the next pope. He took the name Pope Leo XIV.
He is only the second priest from the Augustine order to be named pope. The first was Pope Eugene IV in the 1400s.
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Pope Leo XIV appears on the central loggia of St. Peter's Basilica after being chosen the 267th pontiff of the Roman Catholic Church, at the Vatican, Thursday, May 8, 2025.
And Prevost began his journey to becoming pope in 51黑料. In 1977, he entered the novitiate of the Order of St. Augustine, in the Province of Our Lady of Good Counsel, where he served for a year at the former Immaculate Conception and St. Henry parish in Compton Heights.
There, he studied to become a priest. There were few Augustinians in 51黑料 then 鈥 just four that year, according to an archdiocese directory.
It was a small parish, with about 400 Catholics, the directory said, and had a parish school with about 200 students.
Baker and his family met Prevost at the parish.
鈥淭his guy was a rock star,鈥 Baker recalled. 鈥淵ou could tell even then he was destined to be great.鈥
He remembered Prevost as someone who was personable, came from a blue collar background, had a degree in mathematics 鈥 and was a White Sox fan.
鈥淗e鈥檚 an American kid like all of us,鈥 he said. 鈥淭here were no airs about him.鈥
They kept in touch over the years, mostly via email. Baker鈥檚 sister and another family member were in Rome recently for a canonization of saints and were going to meet up with then-Cardinal Prevost, though the timing didn鈥檛 work out.
They exchanged pleasantries after Pope Francis died. And when multiple news outlets reported Prevost as a dark horse candidate, Baker sent him an email, telling him how excited Baker and his school buddies were to see Prevost as a possibility.
鈥淗e responded, 鈥楳any thanks, Steve. Best wishes and prayers that God bless you and yours and the alumni. Fraternally, Bob Prevost.鈥欌
Ethan Colbert of the Post-Dispatch contributed to this report.
White smoke poured from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel and the great bells of St. Peter's Basilica tolled Thursday after cardinals elected the 267th pope to lead the Catholic Church on the second day of their conclave.
