Mayor Brandon Johnson described his meeting with Pope Leo this week as “comforting,” but a smattering of Chicagoans outside Holy Name Cathedral on Friday disagreed about the importance and impact of the mayor’s visit to the Vatican.
During his visit Thursday, Johnson spoke with Leo about the U.S.’s history of slavery, as well as humanitarian issues relating to U.S. immigration, Gaza, Cuba and Haiti. Gifting the pontiff a key to the city, the mayor invited Leo to come to Chicago in 2027 to celebrate Mass at Grant Park.
While the mayor said the Holy Father seemed “blessed by [their] presence,” not everyone back home saw it the same way.
The Sun-Times spoke to roughly half a dozen community members, most of them Catholics, outside Holy Name Cathedral Friday afternoon. Some were excited about the mayor’s visit with the Chicago-born pope, while others said the meeting was likely more “performative” than substantive.
Nick Goutos, 67, was concerned about the source of the trip’s funding.
“Who’s paying for it?” the South Loop resident asked. “I believe his visit there will not make an iota [of] difference in any ounce of politics anywhere in this world.”
Johnson’s trip was funded by World Business Chicago, an agency that is made up of about 70% corporate donations and 30% public funding, according to Griffin Krueger, a spokesperson for the mayor’s office.
While WBC pools all public and private funding together under one umbrella, Krueger said the trip was not funded with taxpayer money. A WBC spokesperson confirmed that funding for the trip was from “private sector contributions.”
Goutos also expressed skepticism about the 46 influential members who made up the Chicago delegation to the Vatican. He said with such an “entourage,” there must have been “a lot of close friends and allies.”
“This is a giant vacation, wrapping the pope into this visit,” he said.
The delegation included Chicago Alders, city officials and Johnson allies like Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, who was coming off a stinging defeat by members who recently rejected her proposal to increase union dues.
While Maria Elena Goutos was supportive of the mayor’s visit she said she was “very disappointed” to see Gates join him.
“Why is she going now?” Goutos, 55, asked. “How is it going to benefit teachers that she went to meet with the pope?”
Despite the criticism, the mayor’s one-on-one with the pope drew praise from West Loop resident John Vance.
“Having conversations, those types of people at their levels, I think it should be required,” Vance, 56, said.
It’s important for political and religious figures to talk about “long-lasting errors of judgment,” Vance said, referring to Johnson and Leo’s conversation about slavery in the U.S.
Terry Zelenka, 67, enjoyed the spectacle of the visit but does not believe the meeting will result in any significant change for Chicago.
“It’s a social visit, and there’s no business to be had with the pope,” he said. “But it was kind of fun. It was nice for him to talk about possibly coming here. That would be amazing.”
The biggest critique the Edgebrook resident had about the meeting with the pope was the well-known White Sox fan’s lukewarm reaction to receiving a Cubs ball cap.
“It sounded like he didn’t want the Cubs hat. That’s a little disappointing,” Zelenka joked.