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.

The new Mass, Pro Custodia Creationis (For the Care of Creation), was initially ordered by Pope Francis, who made the environment a major theme of his papacy and the subject of his second encyclical, “Laudato Si’,” subtitled “On Care for Our Common Home,” in 2015.

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.