June 5th, 2025 — By — In Articles
Will the Government Use Eminent Domain to Take the Home Where the Pope Grew Up?
Pope Leo XIV grew up in a small home at 212 E. 141st Place in a Chicago suburb, Dolton, IL. His childhood home was recently renovated and the owner planned to sell it at auction. However, before the auction could take place, the City of Dalton expressed interest in acquiring the property, via negotiation or, if negotiations failed, eminent domain. Eminent domain requires a public purpose and public use for the taking, and requires payment of “just compensation,” which is tied directly to fair market value. What is the fair market value of a home where the Pope grew up? It is going to be tough to answer that question – as there will certainly NOT be any sales of comparable property! Fair market value is the highest price that a willing buyer and willing seller would agree to for a given property, so if the city were interested in being fair and paying actual market value, perhaps it should let the market decide the price, via auction as planned. However, the city has already influenced the market by announcing its intent to condemn.
The question of whether the use of eminent domain is legally appropriate in this case will no doubt also be raised – after all, assuming the home should be made available to the public as a historic site, why shouldn’t the private property owner be able to open the property to the public (and charge admission) rather than the government and/or church doing so? To read more about the property and the City’s stated goals, see this recent article in Forbes:
