Chicago brings home the papacy: City celebrates native son Pope Leo XIV with memes and hope

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CHICAGO − Over 100 years passed between World Series championships for Cubs fans in this great city, but they finally got one. And now, after 2,000 years, they've got a pope, too.

Chicagoans don't mind too much that Pope Leo XIV is apparently not a Cubs fan - he's from the South Side and that is squarely in Chicago White Sox territory - because right now the town is heavenly abuzz with having the first U.S. pope in history hail from their city.

The Wieners Circle, a famous Chicago hot dog stand, celebrated with a sign which read "CANES NOSTROS IPSE COMEDIT" - Latin for "He has eaten our dogs."

“Everything dope, including the Pope, comes from Chicago!” Mayor Brandon Johnson posted on X. “We hope to welcome you back home soon.”

And the Onion, the noted Chicago-based publication known for its biting satire, declared that the conclave had selected its "first Chicago-style pope," with a doctored pic of Pope Leo in a Chicago-style hot dog bun, which, God forbid, did not have any ketchup. The condiment is strictly forbidden on hot dogs in Chicago.

But it's not all memes and games. There's a lot of hope blowing through the Windy City as well. Chicagoans are fiercely proud of their city's working-class reputation and Pope Leo - born here as Robert Francis Prevost - has a reputation in the Catholic Church for sticking up for worker's rights and the disenfranchised, something highly valued here. Prevost was born in 1955 at Mercy Hospital, about three miles south of the city’s iconic downtown Loop area.

And of all people, the Cardinals elected him to lead 1.4 billion Catholics around the globe. But not the bitter rival Cardinals from St. Louis. The ones in the Vatican, who voted in Prevost as the successor to Pope Francis on Thursday, barely a day after they were locked away inside the Sistine Chapel for the historic conclave.

“In this time when Chicago has been demonized, when workers rights and immigrants rights have been attacked and people feel in fear, it’s symbolic we have a pope from Chicago, who is actually also a dual citizen. It shows solidarity among countries and workers,” said Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, a South Side city council member. 

“It brings hope because Chicago is a beacon of hope for the country,” he said. “It’s very symbolic we have one of our own up there.”

A pope to tame Chicago rivals on both sides of the diamond

Aside from a brief tussle over Leo’s baseball allegiances, Cubs and White Sox fans alike were ecstatic for the new pope raised just south of the city and whose early life revolved around the South Side church his family attended.

They toasted “Da Pope,” a reference to the iconic Saturday Night Live “Da Bears” sketch, and joked that in place of the wine and bread at mass, the world should expect Malört – a bitter liqueur knocked back like a rite of passage in the city – and deep-dish pizza or tamales.

Throughout the city and social media on Thursday, Chicagoans quickly embraced the USA's first pope as a cultural icon, with memes and doctored photos showing Pope Leo holding Chicago hot dogs and other city food favorites. "Chicago loses mind over homegrown pontiff," read an Instagram post.

Photoshopped images of the new pope wearing Chicago Bears, Cubs or White Sox garb made the rounds. Both the Cubs and the White Sox used their lighted scoreboards to announce the pontiff supported one or the other. (The pope's brother said he's a White Sox rooter.)

Chicago, dubbed the City of Big Shoulders by poet Carl Sandburg, cheered that it may have a working-class champion to stand up to President Donald Trump's criticisms of the city over the years. In his first presidential term, Trump called Chicago a haven for criminals that is “embarrassing to us as a nation” and he threatened to "send in the feds."

In January, Trump's border czar said Chicago would be “ground zero” for mass deportations, and Chicago officials braced for a showdown.

The new pope from Chicago brings some optimism that the city has an ally in a high place.

“Hopefully it’s going to be a factor in fighting back,” said Sara Izquierdo, a Chicago native who runs a medical clinic frequented by migrants on the city’s South Side. “Francis was really good at standing up for people so I’m really hoping we see that same courage in this pope, too.”

Izquierdo, 30, said that since Trump came into office, her medical clinic has had to screen people to make sure they are who they say they are - and not Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agents looking to make an arrest.

“I’m hoping this will alleviate some of that anxiety that is just rampant right now,” she said. “There’s a lot of fear in going to a food pantry or doctor.”

Izquierdo, a Chicago native whose father is from Peru, saw only one glaring flaw in the new pope.

"I heard that he’s not a Cubs fan," she said. "Can’t have everything I guess."

Will Leo stand up for people like Francis did?

Father Michael Pfleger, the longtime pastor of a South Side Catholic church who is known nationally for his anti-violence work, said the choice of an American cardinal was unexpected but could not have come at a better time.

“As I look at the world and the immorality going on with fascism and tyranny, we need a moral voice of conscience and of concern for the poor,” Pfleger told Paste BN. “What a great time for an American to be in a position to be a moral voice.”

Leo’s moral voice, he expects, will be distinctly that of his native city. 

“He has all the right ingredients— he comes out of Chicago, which is unique to the country, the big city with a small city feel,” Pfleger said. “The city is the heart of America, it’s real people, it’s got all the issues of a city but it’s a place where people try to do right.”

Trump celebrated the news of an American’s election to head the church. But Pfleger said he may be surprised at how their views differ. Already Chicagoans are noting Leo’s recent posts on social media were critical of Trump and Vice President JD Vance.

“I’m sure the president doesn’t know what this guy really stands for and I think he’s gonna find out,” the St. Sabina pastor said.

‘Pope of the Workers,’ again

Chicagoans also noted the name the new pope took: Leo, an apparent reference to Pope Leo XIII, who was known as the “Pope of the Workers.”

The turn of the century pope “outlined the rights of all workers to a fair wage, safe working conditions and collective bargaining,” the Chicago Federation of Labor announced. “We are excited by this message sent to workers around the world and look forward to Pope Leo XIV presiding and serving people of all faiths.” 

Sigcho-Lopez rode into City Council as a champion of working people and echoed the boasts of the Chicago Federation of Labor.

“People have encountered him as someone who can truly reflect the aspiration of workers,” the South Side alderman said. “I’m proud to have someone like Pope Leo XIV who reflects those values.”

Pride from Peru, too

Leo was born in Chicago but he served for decades in Peru, earning dual citizenship with the South American country.

The nation also celebrated the new pope’s election on Thursday.

Peruvian President Dina Boluarte called it historic and noted Leo is a Peruvian by choice.

“His closeness to those most in need left an indelible mark on the heart of Peru,” Boluarte said on Facebook. “The Peruvian people, a nation of faith and hope, is united in prayer for the pope and gratefully celebrates that a pastor who loved Peru now guides the universal church.”

He was the bishop of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015 to 2023, part of a nearly four-decade stretch when he went back and forth between serving in Peru and Chicago, starting in 1985.

A 'beacon of hope'

Celine Woznica was at the Catholic church just outside Chicago, where she helps run a free store and legal aid clinic for migrants.

Suddenly Bells began ringing, she recalls, though it wasn’t clear which papal candidate prevailed. She took heart when she learned who it was.

“He came from a working class neighborhood of Chicago, so that gave him a good start,” said Woznica, 71. “But he so identified with workers and marginalized people of Peru that he added Peruvian citizenship.”

The site Woznica helps run sees about 600 migrants a month. In recent months, staffers shared the words of Francis to console people entering the doors looking for help. She expects that in Leo, the people they served will have a new beacon of hope.

“We got guidance and strength from Pope Francis’ words and I think we’ll be able to continue to give strength and guidance through Pope Leo,” she said.  “He's definitely going to keep up the passion for the rights of human dignity.”