VATICAN CITY — Mayor Brandon Johnson and Pope Leo on Thursday talked all things Chicago — from the city’s sports teams to the aftermath of Operation Midway Blitz to the affordability crisis — all with equal fervor and candor.

Speaking to reporters after the mayor’s historic meeting with the pontiff at the Vatican, Johnson said the experience was a gratifying and humbling opportunity that united Chicagoans — including the famously pro-Sox pope and Cub-fan mayor.

On a more serious note, Johnson said he commended the pope for using his pulpit to speak out against wars, artificial intelligence and President Donald Trump as well as express support of the world’s most-vulnerable populations, a bold stance Johnson called very Chicago. 

Mayor Brandon Johnson gives Pope Leo XIV a key to Chicago amid the gifts brought from Chicago at Vatican City on Thurs., May 28, 2026. Credit: Simone Risoluti/Vatican Media

“What I witnessed was an incredibly humble individual whose roots really define his leadership in this moment,” Johnson said. “That Chicago style, we take everything seriously — everything — and so the conversation around the Cubs and Sox was just as energetic as the conversation that we had around showing up for the most vulnerable.”

Johnson also delivered the message to the Chicago-born pope that regardless of any pressure he comes under, “In Chicago … we got your back,” the mayor said.

They also talked about ICE and how it had affected Chicago during last year’s aggressive immigration enforcement actions, specifically on the Southwest Side, with Johnson sharing how communities came together in creating rapid response groups to help immigrant families feel safe and supported.

“He wanted to know how ICE … impacted our city, and whether or not there were still examples of ICE raids happening in our city, and I talked about how our rapid response community team came together to support families, helping families go from their homes to schools,” Johnson said.

The two also discussed the Pope Leo’s recent apology for the Catholic Church’s role in slavery.

“We talked about clearly the conditions that the long legacy of slavery and disinvestment has had on [not only] Black America but Black people around the globe. I engaged with him in a conversation around reparations and why it’s important to repair the harm that has been caused by the brutal legacy of slavery,” Johnson said.

However, Johnson said they did not discuss whether the pope himself supported reparations.

Meanwhile, the pope also told the mayor of the need to restore civility around the globe.

“He talked about the city of Chicago being more like a refuge and also for us to be kind to one another. There is a lot of hostility and incivility in the world right now and we ought to be kind to one another just like Christ was kind to us all,” Johnson said.

Johnson also delivered a letter inviting the pope to deliver Mass at Grant Park in 2027 — which would mirror Pope John Paul II’s historic visit to Chicago in 1979. Johnson said after the meeting he didn’t know if the pope will be able to come or not.

A letter written by Mayor Brandon Johnson to Pope Leo XIV inviting him to speak at Grant Park. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

RELATED: Here’s Everything In Pope Leo’s Chicago Goodie Bag

‘What A Holy Day,’ Ald. Ramirez Says After Meeting Pope Leo

Following the private meeting in the Vatican Apostolic Library, Pope Leo hosted the delegation of 46 Chicagoans who joined Johnson on his trip to Rome from the political, business, religious, labor and hospitality sectors.

Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th), donning a White Sox pin, brought her 6-month-old baby, Victor Nicholas, to meet the pope. Leo blessed her son and was happy to know she and Victor were fellow Sox fans, she said. She also gave the pope a sanctuary city pin and Southwest Side solidarity pin.

“What a holy day,” Ramirez said.

Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th) (2nd from right, smiling) and her husband, Victor, show off their new baby, Victor, before a City Council meeting in March. Ramirez and her son Victor Nicholas were among those who visited Pope Leo on May 28, 2025. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th), who also got to meet the pope, admitted he was at first nervous but after hearing Leo’s own Chicago stories — from the South, West and North sides — as well as his family’s migration story, he realized how he was “grounded in the city of Chicago.”

“He understands our issues that are affecting not only Chicagoans but folks around the country,” Robinson said. “We have issues like everyone else around poverty, housing issues and the lack of education, and having a pope that understands that and speaks to it and comes out of Chicago … it is great to finally meet him and thank him for being the voice of the voiceless.”

Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), who gifted the pope a papal yellow “God Bless the Westside” T-shirt, said meeting Pope Leo wasn’t as intimidating as one would think.

“This guy is someone who you wouldn’t mind sitting down having dinner with” Ervin said. “In today’s society, with the level of oligarch-ism … this man is of the people, from the people, and for him to come from a city like Chicago, which is the [most] American of all cities in America, is a blessing for us all.”

The mayor, while speaking with alderpeople after the meeting, said the visit should also indicate to the pope that Chicago supports him to the fullest.

“I wanted him to be encouraged by us as well, to keep him going,” Johnson said, noting “you never what type of internal pressure, the phone calls he might receive.”

Ald. Lamont Robinson (4th) (left), Ald. Julia Ramirez (12th), Mayor Brandon Johnson and Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) discuss their meeting with Pope Leo XIV while at the American University in Rome on May 28, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

High-profile civil rights attorney Antonio Romanucci was also in attendance. He has represented George Floyd and Renee Good’s family and is representing the family of Derek Jordan, a 42-year-old man fatally shot by a Chicago police officer during a traffic stop in Humboldt Park in March.

The Rev. Juan Vargas, associate pastor with the Archdiocese of Chicago at Our Lady of the Rosary in Dunning, is also traveling with the mayor.

Vargas and his team worked with Johnson and Catholic Charities to open a migrant shelter at St. Bartholomew’s former school building in 2024. Having the opportunity to speak to the pope about immigration and represent Chicago is timely and historic, he told Block Club Wednesday.

“Pope Leo speaks with a voice that hears the cry of the whole world, and so coming from Chicago, we’re more attentive to that voice because we know where he comes from, we know his roots,” Vargas said. “Pope Leo has been able to open up that dialogue, and it’s challenging at times, [but] every time in our faith we are always challenged because we’re invited to continue to grow.

Other members of the delegation included Ervin’s wife, city Treasurer Melissa Conyears-Ervin, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, Lincoln United Methodist Church Rev. Tanya Lozano Washington and Rainbow Push Coalition President Yusef Jackson.

Ald. Jason Ervin (28th) gives a thumbs up as he exits Vatican City after a delegation of Chicagoans met with Pope Leo XIV on Thurs., May 28, 2026. Credit: Colin Boyle/Block Club Chicago

Chicagoans have flocked to the Vatican this week, some to see the South Side-born pope in person during his Wednesday general audience, while others stumbled into St. Peter’s Square showcasing their Chicago pride as a pitstop on their Italy vacation.

During his general audience Wednesday in St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo — the first pope born in the United States — criticized the United States’ war in Iran, called for peace in Gaza and showed solidarity with Ukrainians under attack by Russia.

“War never solves problems, but aggravates it,” he said in Italian. “It does not build, but multiplies the sufferings of others. Where missiles and drones fall, hope also falls. It destroys houses and it destroys innocent lives.”

Pope Leo has “elevated the consciousness of the globe around his position and stance around our collective humanity,” Johnson previously said.