Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson went to the Vatican with a message, an invitation, and what may be the most aggressively Chicago gift bag ever delivered to a pope.
During a private meeting Thursday with Pope Leo XIV, the Chicago-born pontiff and lifelong White Sox fan, Johnson presented him with the key to the city and formally invited him to return home to celebrate Mass in Grant Park, echoing St. John Paul II's historic 1979 visit to Chicago. The pope did not commit to a trip, but the mayor said he hoped Leo would come back to the city in 2027.
