When Pope Leo XIV was elected on May 8, Cabrini High School excitedly began reflecting on possible ties the city and the high school might have to the new pontiff. The first thing that caught the attention of teachers was that Pope Leo gave his first official address in Spanish and Italian, and his main theme was about immigration. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini’s standing as the patron saint of immigrants also sparked the school’s interest.

“That’s something that always is going to catch our attention,” said Anne Argus DiPaola, Cabrini’s director of communications and alumna, noting Pope Leo’s attention to migration and helping the marginalized and families coming from circumstances or neighborhoods “where they ordinarily wouldn’t have had a fair shot.”