Since white smoke billowed in May from the Sistine Chapel and Pope Leo XIV was elected Pope Francis' successor, the new pope's childhood home — a small, two-story house in Dolton, Illinois, about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Chicago — has drawn visitors from across the country with many treating it as a pilgrimage site.

An Illinois village has voted to purchase the childhood home of the first American pope, with a trustee saying the acquisition of the property is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and a gift from God.