The Latch Key Kid and the Message From the Pope

      

Pope Francis    Dec. 17, 1936 - April 21, 2025

I almost became a Catholic.

When I was a little girl growing up on the Near North Side of Chicago, I was what you’d call a “latchkey kid.” That meant I was responsible for getting myself to and from school, often alone. My 'latchkey' journey began when I was seven years old. Each day, I took the bus to and from Immaculate Conception St. Joseph Catholic School, a small parish school about half a mile from where we lived in a neighborhood called "Old Town."  I never encountered any troubles during my trips, the world was a safer place for children back then.

Immaculate Conception St. Joseph School (circa 1990's)

That school was my first real experience with Catholicism. My teachers were mostly elderly nuns, always dressed in full habits no matter the weather. In temperament, they ranged from angelic to… well, less than angelic. I remember getting light taps on the palm for things like forgetting homework or not finishing lunch. But looking back, I realize they all had my best interest at heart. From them, I learned powerful lessons about faith, discipline, and charity; lessons that have stayed with me to this day.

I especially loved attending Mass every Wednesday. Father Green, the parish priest at the time, was kind and gentle in spirit. He was the first person to teach me, and my classmates that love extends far beyond your own family and friends. He taught that to love and have compassion for everyone who suffers is not just admirable, it’s a divine responsibility. If everyone embraced that, he said, the world would be a better place.

I fell in love with the Catholic Church after that. I was captivated by everything: the hymns, the call-and-response prayers, the solemn beauty of the stained glass, and the reverence of the rituals. It was a welcome contrast to the world I knew.

Immaculate Conception Parrish Today (1107 N Orleans, Chicago, IL.)

Much to my dismay, my time at the school didn’t last. My mother couldn’t afford the tuition, and my stepfather refused to help. So I left, and with that, my dreams of becoming Catholic faded. I eventually became a member of the Southern Baptist faith, but I never forgot what the Catholic Church taught me in that short time: to love, fully and unconditionally.

That same message of love was something I later saw so clearly in Pope Francis. From the moment he stepped onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in 2013, I admired him. He lived and led with great humility, grace, and compassion. If love had a human voice in this current era, he gave it one. He will truly be missed.

Here is a copy of the final address Pope Francis gave on Easter Sunday from the balcony of St. Peter’s Square. It’s worth the read, or better yet, a listen.