Like most locals, I was tickled but also a little incredulous to learn that the new pope was from here in Chicago.
Just a few hours after the announcement dropped, a crucial question was already being hotly debated. Was Pope Leo a Cubs fan? The Northside baseball team certainly seemed to think so, declaring the good news on their stadium’s marquee: “Hey Chicago. He’s a Cubs fan!”
But the brother of the new pontiff quickly set the record straight when he was interviewed by local media that afternoon. Pope Leo XIV is actually a White Sox fan, the team that plays on the city’s Southside. A team hat and pinstripe jersey bearing Pope Leo’s name are reportedly “already on the way to Rome”.
Which got people wondering how much of a Chicago connection the new pope really has. It turns out his credentials are pretty good. He was born on the Southside, in the Bronzeville neighbourhood, which is more than enough for people round here to claim him as one of their own. His local church is on the city’s Far Southside, and the Catholic Theological Union seminary where he earned his Master of Divinity degree in the late 1970s is in Hyde Park, again in the south of the city.
Pope Leo grew up in the burbs, in Dolton, Illinois, and residents there are delighted that, for once, their neighbourhood is making the news for positive reasons. The village’s most famous resident until now had been Tiffany Henyard, the eccentric, scandal-plagued mayor who up until recently was making headlines for her excessive spending, her alleged financial mismanagement and lack of transparency.
It then turned out that, by chance, Pope Leo’s childhood home happened to be on sale: yours for $199,000. After the announcement, that modest residence began to attract substantial crowds of visitors, who seemed to view it as a place of pilgrimage – but shortly afterwards, the listing was pulled from the market.
I decided to go on a small pilgrimage of my own and headed to Portillo’s, a local restaurant chain best-known for its Italian beef sandwiches – a Chicago food staple – and for its indulgent chocolate cake. But another reason was that Portillo’s has begun selling “The Leo”, a limited-edition sandwich dipped in gravy and topped with peppers, in honour of the new pope.
The thing to know about eating an Italian beef sandwich is that it inevitably turns into a complete mess, especially if the whole thing has been dunked in liquid, which the Leo most certainly has. Hunched over in my booth, I tried to keep the juicy roast beef slices from falling out of the soggy bread. I had to use both hands, pausing only to shove a fiery pepper into my mouth every other bite.
After finishing my Leo – I’d give it a solid seven out of 10 – I tried to scrape the gravy off my fingers with napkin after napkin, but they remained sticky. Staring down at the puddle of liquid that had dribbled out of my sandwich and on to the crumpled-up wax paper, I don’t think I could have felt further from the supreme pontiff. I could not, however, have felt more Chicagoan.
Of course, the internet has exploded with memes about the new pope – but he has also been popping up in the real world too, across the city. On Saturday, I noticed that the Christ Luther Church opposite my house had both congratulations and exhortations for “Da Pope”, as he’s been nicknamed. “Congratulations, Pope Leo XIV!” its outdoor sign said in block letters. “Now make Chicago proud: speak out for immigrants and suffering people”.
Linda A Thompson is a Belgian journalist and editor living in Chicago
