“The pulpit and the pen.”
Those are the tools Mayor Brandon Johnson says he and Pope Leo XIV possess to push back against the “godforsaken” policies of the Trump administration.
And that is the message Johnson is rehearsing as he takes flight to Rome this week and ascends to the highest stage of his political life: a one-on-one meeting with the world’s most famous Chicagoan, “Da Pope.”
“We’re going to need the pulpit and the pen to come together to deliver justice for all of humanity,” Johnson said Sunday at a send-off at Peach’s Restaurant in the South Side’s Bronzeville neighborhood.
“The pope has been clear about ending these godforsaken policies that have created endless wars, where more dollars are being spent on wars than how we transform lives,” Johnson said. “Just as he is using his pulpit, I’m using the executive order pen to protect all of Chicago.”
Johnson will be the latest Illinoisan to get the otherwise rare chance to meet the pope, who has given locals from his hometown, including Gov. JB Pritzker, private audiences since beginning his papal ministry a year ago.
In his first-ever trip to Rome, Johnson plans to thank Pope Leo for his advocacy, which includes pushing back against the U.S. war in Iran, calling for peace in Gaza and criticizing President Donald Trump’s immigration policies that, in Chicago, were carried out with tear gas and aggression during Operation Midway Blitz. Pope Leo’s candor has prompted Trump to pray for a pontiff who is less “weak on crime,” while Johnson has repeatedly characterized Trump’s policies as “ungodly.”
Johnson’s harshest critics are lauding the trip, while his allies lightheartedly criticize his plan to give the Sox-supporting pope a Cubs hat — a sign that religion and sports are still the two pillars powerful enough to transcend Chicagoans’ deeply held political loyalties.
“I hope the mayor has a wonderful experience,” said Ald. Raymond Lopez (15th), a strident mayoral opponent. “Rome is the epicenter of an original church, and I hope that helps guide him spiritually upon his return back to the city of Chicago. … [But] I wish he would have brought the pope a Sox hat and not a Cubs hat.”
‘Cubbies need a blessing’
Johnson, who is a Cubs fan because he grew up with WGN (home to Cubs for 72 years), said again Sunday he plans to at least talk to the pope about his North Side team.
“Just relax, South Siders, relax. We know what team he roots for, but our Cubbies need a blessing, too,” Johnson said, later adding that while it might not be feasible to try “to convert someone to root for a different Chicago team. … The pope believes, like I believe, that the Bears belong in Chicago.”
Johnson heads to Rome in the last week of a Springfield legislative session in which he has tried to thwart a plan creating incentives for a Bears’ move to suburban Arlington Heights.
He’s also leaving after Memorial Day weekend, a period that is historically violent and which this year saw a toddler fatally shot and 39 other people injured in shootings. Johnson’s chief-of-staff, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, will remain in Chicago.
“As long as he’s not taking the superintendent with him, we’ll be fine,” said Ald. Brian Hopkins (2nd), who chairs the council’s Public Safety Committee. “I don’t think you could blame the fact that the mayor went to see the pope for the fact that a teen trend occurred,” Hopkins said of the sometimes-violent mass gatherings the city has struggled to extinguish in recent years.
The delegation headed to Rome includes business leaders, Johnson’s deputy mayor for economic development, his sustainability officer, advisor Jason Lee, top council ally Jason Ervin (28th), as well as non-Catholic faith leaders to represent Chicago’s religious diversity.
That includes Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann of Mishkan Chicago in Ravenswood, who said she will give the pope a White Sox kippah, a traditional Jewish head covering that represents “the respect for the divine.”
Fred Tsao, policy director with the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, is not going but commended Johnson for elevating the plight of Chicago’s immigrant community by meeting with the pope.
Asked whether it might bring unwanted attention from the Trump administration, Tsao said “that ship has sailed.”
“Chicago is definitely in the crosshairs of this particular administration,” he said. “I’d like to think that the administration has learned its lesson given the resistance that arose among the people of Chicago.”
The meeting also comes as Johnson attempts to shore up his political base in the face of what’s sure to be a tough reelection battle jam-packed with opponents, though Johnson hasn’t officially announced a bid yet.
“He does need a miracle to turn it around, so seeking out the Chicago-born pope is a pretty good one,” said Tom Bowen, a Democratic strategist who worked for two of Johnson’s predecessors and has been critical of the mayor.
Chicago’s nexus of political organizing and faith
Democratic consultant Delmarie Cobb, a devout Catholic who is “jealous as I can be” of the mayor’s trip, said whether it is good for him politically or not, meeting the pope aligns with Johnson’s goals.
“I always say that Jesus was a progressive, and anybody who believes in theology and actually reads the Bible and believes in Christianity [knows] what it means, and it means making sure that everyone does well,” she said. “He’s probably going to talk to the pope about that very idea.”
In a city where political organizing and faith are deeply intertwined, Johnson is no stranger to speaking about the intersection of the two.
Shortly after taking office, Johnson created a Chief of Faith Engagement position in his office and has often tapped Black church leaders to convey his political message. That includes when the Justice Department zeroed in on Johnson’s hiring practices, accusing his diversity efforts of being discriminatory, and when some in the city’s Black and Latino communities were divided over resources to help migrants.
On Sunday, it was clear the largely symbolic meeting with the pope will be deeply meaningful to Johnson, the son of a preacher. He gave brief remarks to an audience of church elders and supporters over breakfast, including Jacqueline Jackson. widow of the Rev. Jesse Jacskon.
“I will be remiss if I did not just pause for a moment to thank God for Mother Jackson,” Johnson said as he began.
“I was thinking about what’s the message that Chicago needs to deliver to the pope, and I’m going to do my best to channel the great humanitarian and civil rights leader Reverend Jesse Jackson.
“All of us have a responsibility to address these very desperate times that we’re living in, but government has a responsibility as well to use its executive ability to turn those humanitarian efforts into policy that we can codify so that generations to come can benefit.”