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Pope Leo XIV met young Chicago students who held a mock conclave, on May 6, before the pope was elected. The children chose fourth-grader Augie Wilk to become their 'pope' and he chose the name Augustine. Members of the class were greeted by the Holy Father the pope’s weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square at the Vatican October 8, 2025. The students attend Our Lady of Mount Carmel Academy in Chicago. Cardinal Blaise J. Cupich of Chicago accompanied the students during their encounter with the real pope.
The group of young students with their parents from Chicago Catholic school were among the over 60,000 pilgrims in the square. The students were wearing white and red costumes and a four-cornered hat similar to what a cardinal wears. Two students were dressed as a Swiss guards. According to the Chicago Catholic, they had reenacted a “mock papal conclave” May 6, just two days before the real College of Cardinals elected Chicago born Cardinal Robert F. Prevost at the Vatican. “Students had to apply to be one of the 20 cardinals; five sixth graders portrayed cardinals over 80 who could not vote but helped run the conclave,” the publication reported. Teachers made the costumes, including the red “mozettas” or capes, out of felt, and the hats out of cardstock, it noted. Cardinal Cupich, who was one of the 133 cardinals in the conclave that elected Pope Leo, visited the students at their school June 2 to see their rendition, “and to answer their questions about the real conclave.”
The group of young students with their parents from Chicago Catholic school were among the over 60,000 pilgrims in the square. The students were wearing white and red costumes and a four-cornered hat similar to what a cardinal wears. Two students were dressed as a Swiss guards. According to the Chicago Catholic, they had reenacted a “mock papal conclave” May 6, just two days before the real College of Cardinals elected Chicago born Cardinal Robert F. Prevost at the Vatican. “Students had to apply to be one of the 20 cardinals; five sixth graders portrayed cardinals over 80 who could not vote but helped run the conclave,” the publication reported. Teachers made the costumes, including the red “mozettas” or capes, out of felt, and the hats out of cardstock, it noted. Cardinal Cupich, who was one of the 133 cardinals in the conclave that elected Pope Leo, visited the students at their school June 2 to see their rendition, “and to answer their questions about the real conclave.”
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