As the red velvet curtains at the Vatican parted, a priest realized that his college pal from the South Side of Chicago that he knows as “Bob” had been elected the first American pope.

“Oh, dear God,” the Very Rev. Anthony Benedetto Pizzo, the prior provincial of the Augustinian Order in Chicago, said as he heard the news.

Pizzo knew Robert Prevost could be named Pope, but it was an outside chance. Prevost was just named cardinal in 2023. Pope Francis named Prevost the Prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, whose job it is to vet potential bishops. His name had come up a few times to succeed Pope Francis, Pizzo said, but he wasn’t a named favorite.

“We were waiting with bated breath to see what would happen,” Pizzo said, speaking from Southern Italy, in an interview with Capitol News Illinois.

Pizzo watched as his friend was introduced to the world as Pope Leo XIV. It was the same man he knew in college, seminary and throughout his career — a man dedicated to his faith and his friends.

Pizzo planned to travel to Rome on Friday but was unsure whether he would see his old friend. He had known Prevost since the men were undergraduates studying at Villanova University in Philadelphia.

Prevost was one of three brothers living in Dolton on the far South Side. One brother remains in Chicago. The other lives in Florida. His father, a World War II veteran, was a teacher and school administrator, Pizzo said. His mother was a librarian.

Young Robert Prevost attended St. Mary of the Assumption Church, located on the Chicago-Dolton border, serving as an altar boy and attending the parish school.

“Bob is such a good friend. He was there throughout my life,” Pizzo said. “He was there when I made my vows, the death of my parents and my installation as a pastor.”

The man who would become pope likes to drive and enjoyed long treks, driving back and forth to college with Pizzo, who described him as very open and an excellent companion.

Pizzo said his friend is down to earth, outgoing and well-rounded.

“He was very dedicated and applied himself in all that he did,” Pizzo said.

The two men attended the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago in 1977. The new pope obtained a Master of Divinity degree.

Prevost began doing missionary work in Peru in 1985, serving in various roles including parish pastor, diocesan official, seminary teacher and administrator. He led an Augustinian seminary for a decade.

From 2001-2013, he served as prior general of the Order of Saint Augustine. He was succeeded by his friend, Pizzo, who continues to serve in the role. In 2014, the young man who grew up in Chicago was appointed Bishop of Chiclayo, Peru.

He became a Peruvian citizen in 2015.

Prevost selected his name after Pope Leo XII, who was famous for his 1891 treatise that outlined rights of workers to a fair wage, safe working conditions and the formation of trade unions.

When Prevost became a cardinal in 2023, Sister Barbara Reid, president of the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, was in attendance. On Thursday, after the announcement, things got hectic at CTU.

Patrick Bittorf, vice president for development at CTU, was fielding calls and requests for media interviews.

“Well, we graduated a pope!” he said.

Pizzo said he hopes his friend receives all the support he needs in his new role and that he continues to be as attentive as he has been, relying on God’s grace.

And does the new pope have a favorite Chicago baseball team?  Pizzo said his friend is from the South Side and was likely a White Sox fan, but then demurred.

“I mean, we never went to a game or anything, but I would assume …”

Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.