A delegation from the Pope’s hometown traveled to Rome in late May to meet with Pope Leo XIV, warmly inviting him to visit Chicago and celebrate Mass in the city’s Grant Park.
In a private audience, Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Pope discussed “all things Chicago” — from the city’s sports teams to the aftermath of ICE raids — as well as social issues like the U.S. affordability crisis and the Pope’s historic apology for the Church’s role in legitimizing slavery.
The Pope’s first question to Johnson was simply, “How’s Chicago?,” prompting Johnson to joke that at the end of the day, their meeting was just “two guys from Chicago.”
Johnson traveled to Rome with a delegation of 45 city officials, business leaders, and others. They brought the Pope a gift chest of Chicago favorites, including memorabilia, books, apparel, local honey and giardiniera, and the Pope’s parents’ diplomas from DePaul University.
The heart of Johnson’s visit was formally inviting his countryman to visit Chicago. Along with a key to the city, Johnson presented the Pope with a formal letter of invitation. His was the second official invitation that Pope Leo has received to visit the U.S., as Vice President Vance delivered a formal invitation from President Trump soon after his election to the papacy.
“Chicago is home to one of the nation’s largest Catholic populations,” Johnson wrote in the invitation, written in consultation with Chicago Archbishop Blaise Cardinal Cupich.
His letter recalled the last papal visit to Chicago and urged Pope Leo to offer again that witness of hope, writing:
October 5, 1979, is forever remembered as the most spiritually inspiring day in Chicago history. Pope John Paul II’s visit to Chicago and the Holy Mass he officiated in Grant Park was an event so powerful, it drew more than a million of the faithful to share in the Gospel…
On behalf of the people of Chicago, I write with profound respect and humility to invite you to visit your hometown in 2027 and officiate Holy Mass in Grant Park. Your witness to mercy, unity, peace, and human dignity would bring tremendous hope to our city and beyond…
It would be my deepest honor to welcome you back to your childhood home.
Johnson said he sees the Pope as an “ally” on issues of social justice and migration, saying in an interview the day after their meeting, “As the mayor of Chicago, we are incredibly elated and proud of him… We talked about how his pulpit and my pen can come together to protect all of humanity.”
After the event, Johnson also shared photos of the meeting on X, writing, “It was an honor to share time with a magnificent human, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV, yesterday.”
