Mayor Brandon Johnson floats Chicago landmark named for Pope Leo XIV

ROME — Fresh off the glow of his summit with Pope Leo XIV at the Vatican, Mayor Brandon Johnson signaled Friday that Chicago could be due for another street or landmark christened after a pontiff.

In a sit-down interview with the Tribune, Johnson said the first American pope deserves to be formally recognized in his hometown, though he said it was premature to commit to whether that should manifest in a road designation or other type of monument.

“It’s an incredible honor, right, to have the most recognizable, influential religious leader in the world to be from Chicago,” Johnson said from a cafe in Rome. “There will be plenty of ways in which we’ll be able to honor our dear brother, His Holiness.”

In Brighton Park, 43rd Street between Western and Kedzie avenues was named after Pope John Paul II, the first Polish-born pope who was especially beloved by the Polish immigrant community on the Southwest Side. He was also the last pontiff to visit Chicago, celebrating an hourslong Mass in Grant Park in 1979 that Johnson called “the most spiritually inspiring day in Chicago history” in his Thursday invitation for Leo to make a similar pilgrimage to the city next year.

Johnson landed in Rome Thursday morning as part of the most high-profile international trip of his mayoral term. His private conference with Leo — whose elevation to the papacy a year ago electrified the U.S.’s third-largest city — lasted about 20 minutes that afternoon. Then, the mayor and a delegation of about 50 Chicago leaders, including his closest allies, had a larger audience with the pope and presented him with personal gifts.

The affair was wholly “Chicago style,” Johnson had told reporters later. He also presented Leo with a key to the city, reading aloud other dignitaries with that honor. Leo appeared “somewhat taken aback” to learn he joined the ranks of former South African President Nelson Mandela and singer Frank Sinatra, per the mayor.

Of course, the ever-parochial instincts of Chicago, where neighborhood loyalties rule and aldermen are fiercely protective of their ward domains, means the decision on the location of any future Leo landmark could be contentious.

After members of the delegation reported that Leo namechecked Augusta, Damen and other local streets in their private meeting, Northwest Side Ald. Gilbert Villegas was quick to jump on X from Chicago to underline the connection: “From Augusta and Damen to Vatican City, back at you @Pontifex! #36thWardBlessed.”

Johnson said Friday he hopes for “a way in which his honor can be expressed throughout the entire city of Chicago.”

“I would believe that that would be his preference,” Johnson said. “I think everybody’s going to try to take claim to the pope, and it’s a good thing knowing that as Chicagoans, of course we can be very territorial in terms of regionally. I think what the pope is doing and what he charged us to do yesterday, and what I believe he is going to continue to charge all of humanity to do, is to find ways in which we can unite.”

Ald. Julia Ramirez, 12th, was one of three City Council members who accompanied Johnson to the Vatican, and represents the area where Pope John Paul II Road stretches. She said her ward’s Polish community has been asking to extend the street, which she supports.

“If the pope does come to Chicago, maybe he can be part of that extension of Pope John Paul (II Road),” Ramirez, who also attended the local Catholic school named after John Paul II, said.

The mayor’s team has not yet released the price tag for the excursion, which was paid for by the public-private agency controlled by his office, World Business Chicago. He still has a few stops left in his Rome tour, including touring a new metro station near The Colosseum and holding a news conference with the Roman mayor at City Hall.

Johnson says he will head back to Chicago this weekend “determined” to continue with his progressive agenda, including delivering on reparations for Black Chicagoans. He also nodded to last year’s selection of Leo, who has Creole ancestry, being “technically the first time in the global history where you have a pope with African ancestry.”

“The significance of that is that the influence that Blackness has had on our globe is significant, and to have someone that has that ancestry provides him with context and a moral clarity that others may not have had,” the mayor said.

Still, Johnson would not commit to a deadline of the end of this term for Black Chicagoans to begin receiving reparations payments, saying instead the task force’s job to study the issue continues.

“To suggest and believe that you can just repay the harm after 400 years in four years, quite frankly, I think that that misses the point of reparations,” the mayor said. “(Reparations) requires repairing the harm in every aspect of our existence.”

What Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson brought Pope Leo XIV, including a White Sox hat and sanctuary city pin