VATICAN CITY — When 15-year-old Maria Izworska from Poland hears the word Chicago, the first thing that comes to mind is “O Block,” the notoriously high-crime strip of South King Drive that’s been immortalized in rap songs and social media.
“I also think about food,” said the teen, who was sitting on the steps of St. Peter’s Square on a recent weekday while on a trip to the Vatican. “I think about corn dogs and hot dogs.”
But now that Chicago can claim a pope, Izworska believes this papal association might improve the city’s image on the international scene.
Chicago “was already famous before the pope was elected, but it could have some influence on the reason why people would come there,” said her friend Weronika Kotarba, 15. “Now I think that when someone hears the word Chicago … they’ll think of this stuff, but also the pope.”
During the first official week of Pope Leo XIV’s papacy, the Tribune asked Vatican City tourists from around the globe what they thought about having a Chicago-born pontiff, the only American to lead the Catholic Church in its 2,000-year history.
The teens from Poland at one point broke into song, singing the first few lyrics to “Chicago” by Michael Jackson: I met her on the way to Chicago/Where she was all alone/And so was I so I asked her for her name.
They have some understanding of the papacy’s powers to change public perception: When Pope John Paul II was elected in 1978, it raised the profile of both his hometown, Wadowice, and the entire nation of Poland, the teens said.
Back then, many were shocked when the conclave picked a pontiff from an Eastern European country, similar to two weeks ago when much of the world was stunned to learn the newly elected pope had been born in the United States.
“It was also surprising for our country to have a pope. I think it’s a similar situation,” Kotarba said. “It’s a very important person from your country.”
Diane Stenback, 78, who lives near Oshkosh, Wisconsin, said she hopes producing a pope will “make people from Chicago better.”
“You know, so they don’t fight each other and shoot each other,” she said. “There’s cultural stuff there too. But nowadays all you hear about is the violence and things like that.”
Her husband, 82-year-old Martin Stenback, added that “there’s idiots for mayors and governors there” as well.
While the new pontiff stresses peace and bridge-building, he might have unwittingly stoked an age-old Wisconsin-Illinois rivalry.
Diane Stenback pauses in the piazza to pull up a meme on her phone of Pope Leo XIV dressed in a Chicago Bears-themed mitre and vestments, with the caption, “Popes from Green Bay: 0, Popes from Chicago: 1.”
Gui Rodrigues Melo, 20, from the Atlanta area, said he finds a Chicago-born pope “hilarious.” He surmised that 69-year-old Pope Leo XIV, who was born at Mercy Hospital and raised in south suburban Dolton, could become an icon of Chicago internationally.
“Especially for people outside the U.S. who don’t even know about Chicago. When they think of Chicago, they probably think of Michael Jordan,” he said. “At least now they’ll have something else to associate Chicago with.”
Rei Suzuki, who was born and lived most of her life in Japan but now resides in Kentucky, said she appreciates that the pontiff has spent time in both the Chicago area and Peru, two very different cultures.
“He’s Peruvian and American, he has dual citizenship, so he’s exposed to many places in the world,” she said. “He has more perspective of a different side of the world.”
Chiara Valentina Puzzello, 20, who lives in Rome, said she didn’t have much of an opinion about the pope’s background as an American or native of Chicago.
She’s more worried about his actions as pontiff, citing accusations that he has mishandled clergy sex abuse allegations during his career in Chicago and Peru.
“I hope for the better” going forward, she said.
Dame Ndiaye, who is from Senegal, works for a company that gives Vatican tours. He doesn’t think the pope’s nationality matters.
“He is uniting people,” Ndiaye said. “If he can bring people together, it’s going to be for the benefit of everyone everywhere.”
Ndiaye said he has friends from Chicago who attended the Loyola University Chicago John Felice Rome Center. In 2015, they invited him to his first Thanksgiving celebration.
“People that I know from Chicago are very nice,” he said.
But Pope Leo XIV’s birth city or heritage aren’t paramount to him.
“It doesn’t matter, to me, where he’s from. Nationality doesn’t matter,” he added. “It is important that he is the right one.”
