ROME (AP) — During a private Vatican meeting on Thursday, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson formally requested that Pope Leo XIV return to his birthplace of Chicago for a papal visit in 2027.
Johnson presented a written invitation to the pontiff that referenced Pope John Paul II’s historic Chicago visit and celebration of Mass at Grant Park on Oct. 5, 1979, describing it as “forever remembered as the most spiritually inspiring day in Chicago history.”
“Your Holiness, you were a young priest-in-training at the time. Perhaps you were there. Perhaps you would consider a repeat Papal visit nearly 50 years later to share your own message of hope, unity and service,” Johnson wrote.
The mayor, whose father served as a pastor, specifically asked the pope to celebrate Mass at Grant Park in 2027, emphasizing that Chicago hosts one of the nation’s most significant Catholic communities.
This marks at least the second formal invitation Leo has received to travel to the United States. U.S. Vice President JD Vance extended an invitation to Leo shortly after his papal election last May.
The pontiff was born Robert Prevost in 1955 in Chicago’s South Side Bronzeville area and was raised in nearby suburban Dolton, close to St. Mary of the Assumption, where he worshipped and completed elementary education.
His religious education continued at the Catholic Theological Union of Chicago in Hyde Park, and he served as an educator in area Catholic schools.
