Officials in Dolton, Ill., called the purchase a rare opportunity. But some residents questioned whether the village, grappling with a deficit and potholes, could afford it.

A village in Chicago’s south suburbs is poised to purchase Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home after its board voted unanimously on Tuesday to take control of the property.

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 south of Chicago — has drawn visitors from across the country with many treating it as a pilgrimage site.