Wisconsin nun reflects on teaching Chicago student now known as Leo XIV: 'I taught the pope'

Wisconsin nun reflects on teaching Chicago student now known as Pope Leo XIV

A Wisconsin nun shares memories of her former Chicago student, now Pope Leo XIV.

CHICAGO - A nun in Wisconsin is reflecting on almost a half century of teaching in Chicago and one student she knew as Bob, who we now know as Pope Leo XIV.

"I was overwhelmed by an emotion I can't even describe. I mean, it just, it didn't seem real," said Sister Dianne Bergant.

Bergant describes the moment she and the world learned the man she's known as Robert "Bob" Prevost was introduced as Pope Leo XIV.

"I taught the Pope how to understand the Bible. You don't figure that's gonna be part of your life. It sounds so strange, you know, but I did," Bergant said.

The backstory:

It was during the 1978-'79 school year at Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where Bergant first met the man she called Bob.

The young 20-something seminarian took Bergant's Intro to the Old Testament class his first year at the school and subsequent classes after that.

"He was a very good student. He was an ‘A’ student, and, and, um, he was always on time, you know, which means he's reliable," Bergant said.

Bergant, who taught at CTU for 45 years, says it was about a decade ago when she last saw her friend, during an ordination for another priest in Chicago.

She sent her friend Bob an email a couple of years ago, after he was made a cardinal, not to congratulate him but to thank him for the kind of ministry that brought him to the attention of the Holy Father.

What's next:

Now that he's the Holy Father, Bergant believes Pope Leo will continue serving like he always has, including as a missionary in Peru.

"He, he's 20 years with the poor in, in a foreign country, so committed to them he becomes a national, uh, a citizen, and... and you don't turn that off. First of all, you know, it's gotta be there for you to stay there for 20 years. So he's got that kind of a commitment. And that he names himself after Leo XIII, who was the champion of the working class," Bergant said.

While he's the first American to be elected Pope, Bergant says Pope Leo is fair and he will not show any favoritism to his home country because he understands the real reason for his latest mission.

"His responsibility is bigger than the United States. Maybe in his heart, that's his country, but he's realizes his heart's gotta be bigger," Bergant said.