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Chicago Mayor Invites Pope Leo XIV to Visit the City in 2027
ROME – During a private audience at the Vatican on Thursday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson extended an invitation to Pope Leo XIV to visit his hometown of Chicago next year.
In a letter presented to the pontiff, Mayor Johnson reminisced about Pope John Paul II’s historic Mass in Grant Park on October 5, 1979, describing it as “the most spiritually inspiring day in Chicago history.” Johnson suggested that Pope Leo, who was then a young seminarian, might have been present at that event and encouraged him to consider a similar visit nearly five decades later to share a message of hope, unity, and service.
As the son of a pastor, Johnson emphasized Chicago’s strong Catholic community and invited Pope Leo to celebrate Mass in Grant Park in 2027.
This marks at least the second official invitation extended to Pope Leo to visit the United States, following a prior invitation from U.S. Vice President JD Vance shortly after the pope’s election last May.
Pope Leo XIV, born Robert Prevost in 1955, hails from Chicago’s Bronzeville neighborhood on the South Side and grew up in the suburb of Dolton. He attended Mass and elementary school at St.
Mary of the Assumption and later pursued theological studies at the Catholic Theological Union in Hyde Park. He has also served as an educator in local Catholic schools.