Dan went to grade school with the pope at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Riverdale, Illinois. Dan says his younger brother served on the altar with the pope.
GRAPEVINE, Texas — In Grapevine, Texas, two Irish Catholic friends are celebrating a moment they never saw coming—and debating it like only South Side Chicago natives could.
Dan Weinberger of Weinberger’s Deli in Grapevine runs a sandwich shop in Texas that first started in the heart of Chicago decades ago.
“We’re a sandwich shop with a Chicago flair to it,” Dan says proudly.
Jerry Howe has also put down roots in North Texas.
This week, their loyalties to faith and hometown collided with global news: the election of Pope Leo XIV—the first American pope, and more importantly to them, a fellow South Sider from Dolton, just outside Chicago.
“He’s a Chicagoan. That’s the bottom line,” Jerry says. “Let’s not forget where he’s from: Dolton,” said Dan.
The news hit close to home. Dan went to grade school with the new pope at Saint Mary of the Assumption Church in Riverdale, Illinois. Dan tells WFAA his younger brother served on the altar with the new pope when they were young.
Jerry’s brother, also a priest, studied and served alongside then Father Robert Prevost. His brother is Fr. Christopher Kevin Howe. They went to St. Augustine Seminary High School in Michigan together and then on to Villanova University.
“He’s not the loudest voice in the room, but he wants to hear everyone’s voice,” Howe said, based on a conversation with his brother, a retired priest in Chicago.
Still, in true Chicago fashion, the jokes are as plentiful as the reverence. When asked to rank their joy, Dan confesses, “I’m going to burn in hell for this: it’s Cubs winning the World Series, pope, and then the Bears. Forgive me!”
Rumors swirl that Pope Leo XIV is a White Sox fan— “Until I hear it from the pope’s lips…I’m going Cubs,” Dan says, laughing.
And yes, the deli plans to honor the hometown pope the best way they know how: with a sandwich. “It will be a working-class sandwich. It will be,” Dan promises.
Neither knew the pope on a personal level, but they will forever have this connection. For two men who had drifted from the church, this moment is a turning point. “I feel a real connection to my faith,” Dan admits. “You’ll be seeing me on Sundays.”