VATICAN CITY — They don’t eat Italian beefs in Italy, but that won’t stop Mayor Brandon Johnson from meeting one-on-one in Rome later this month with Chicago’s most famous son: Pope Leo XIV.
Johnson on Thursday confirmed he’s planning to sit down with the Chicago-born, Dolton-raised pope at the end of the month in Rome.
He won’t be the first Chicago-area politician to spend time with His Holiness — Gov. JB Pritzker and Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias have already done so — but the mayor might be the only one bold enough to gift the famous White Sox fan merchandise from the team’s North Side rivals.
“I’ll probably bring him a Cubs hat,” Johnson, a Cubs fan, said in an interview with Block Club Thursday. “I don’t know if he’ll wear it, but I’ll bless it nonetheless.”
Johnson said he’s planning to express to Pope Leo the “enormous amount” of gratitude and pride Chicagoans have in him. The pope has “elevated the consciousness of the globe around his position and stance around our collective humanity,” Johnson said.
Pope Leo XIV — born Robert Francis Prevost — was selected as the first American pope in May 2025. Prevost was born in Bronzeville, grew up in suburban Dolton and went to church at St. Mary of the Assumption on the Far Southeast Side.
He later attended the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park.
Leo’s ascension to lead the world’s Catholics has been widely celebrated in Chicago, from a specially-named “Da Pope” beer to a celebratory mass held by his very own White Sox at Rate Field in Bridgeport.
The pope’s White Sox fandom has been well-documented, with photos emerging of him attending games during the team’s 2005 World Series run. The Sox are having a surprisingly good season this year, with a .500 record placing them only 1.5 games behind Cleveland to lead the American League Central division.
As he prepares to head to the Vatican to meet with Pope Leo, Johnson on Thursday admitted that getting him to don a Cubs hat may be a tall order. He might take a simpler approach and ask for some spiritual help for the North Siders, who are off to a strong start to the season but as of Thursday had lost four games in a row.
“If his Sox keep playing this well, though, I’m going to ask him to bless our guys on the North Side,” Johnson said.
“And then, of course, we’re going to pray for potentially a Cubs-White Sox World Series.”
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