<p>Nieva Mehta sat in the last row of the first block of pews at Holy Name Cathedral Friday afternoon — the same seat she claims for nearly every Mass.</p><p>But this Friday's gathering was a little different.</p><p>Dozens attended Friday Mass at the Near North Side cathedral for a celebration marking one year since Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV was elected to the papacy. Churchgoers were greeted by a Pope Leo cardboard cutout inside the cathedral’s front doors.</p><p>Mehta, 84, admires Pope Leo, formerly Cardinal Robert Prevost, for his nearly two decades of work in Peru as an Augustinian missionary, professor and later bishop of Chiclayo. Of course, his Chicago roots make her admiration for him even “more special.”</p><p>“It’s not only because of Chicago, but I read all of the very good things that he’s done.