Dolton residents were skeptical at Tuesday's board meeting, questioning whether the financially strained village could afford to purchase the home and maintain the streets surrounding 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.

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.