As the Sisters of Christian Charity watched the white smoke rise from the Sistine Chapel in Rome on May 8 and awaited the appearance of the new pope on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica, they had no idea they had played a vital role in his early formation.
When Cardinal Robert Prevost’s name was announced and he stepped onto the balcony as Pope Leo XIV, joy rippled through the crowd — and among the sisters — as the world learned that the new pope was an American. A Chicago native. An Augustinian. An alumnus of Villanova University and the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago.
Details emerged that he hailed from the South Side of Chicago, from the town of Dolton, and attended St. Mary of the Assumption Parish and School in nearby Riverdale. That revelation deepened the sisters’ excitement: from 1918 to 1988, the Sisters of Christian Charity were educators at St. Mary’s.
They quickly began poring over archives in search of records of those who had taught there during the grade school years of Pope Leo XIV. The North American Province of the Sisters of Christian Charity is based in Mendham, N.J.
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The story of this connection traces back to the Sisters of Christian Charity’s founding. Pauline von Mallinckrodt established the congregation in 1849 in Paderborn, Germany. Amid political upheaval under Otto von Bismarck and in response to calls from America for German-speaking sisters to educate immigrant children, the sisters arrived in the United States in 1873. They established schools in many states across the country. Little could Pauline have imagined that one day, her community would help form a future pope’s early faith and education.
In September 1961, Prevost began first grade at St. Mary’s School. Under the guidance of the sisters, he received the foundational education that would one day support him in leading the Catholic Church.
Two Sisters of Christian Charity who served at St. Mary’s during Prevost’s time were Sister Rosalie Erdmann, now a member of the Sisters of the Living Word, and Sister Leocadia Salbert, now known as Sister Jeanette Salbert, also of the Sisters of the Living Word.
Sister Erdmann taught sixth and seventh grades during Prevost’s eighth grade. Though she did not teach him directly, she remembers seeing him serve Mass and play on the school playground. She also fondly recalls his mother, Mildred.
“Robert’s mother was wonderful. She was the school librarian and deeply involved with the school and parish,” Sister Erdmann said.
Sister Salbert arrived at St. Mary’s during the second half of Prevost’s eighth-grade year and taught science. Although she does not remember him, she recalls the school’s nurturing environment.
“It was more than a school,” Sister Salbert said. “It was a family.”
Even before Sister Salbert arrived, the Prevost family had already made an impression. In 1964, Mildred organized the St. Mary’s Altar Rosary Society and mobilized school families to collect S&H Green Stamps, which were used to purchase a car for the sisters.
Sister M. Alypia Schalkowski, who died in 2003 and was Robert’s first-grade teacher, remained connected to him throughout the years. Her address books listed his successive addresses, first as the provincial of his Augustinian order in Illinois and later as the prior general in Rome.
The Sisters of Christian Charity joyfully celebrate Pope Leo XIV’s pontificate and the path he will chart for the Church. They are honored and proud to have played a small yet meaningful role in his early formation.
Sister Ann Lavelle is director of mission advancement for the Sisters of Christian Charity in Mendham, N.J. The community’s North American motherhouse is located there within the Diocese of Paterson, where they minister, as well as many other dioceses. Learn more here.
