Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson headed to Rome to talk to Pope Leo XIV

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson was headed to Rome on Wednesday to meet with Pope Leo XIV in the Vatican.

The mayor is expected to talk with the pope on Thursday.

"As I reflect on my upcoming time that I'll get a chance to spend with the pope, I think about our shared moral values, and our shared belief in human dignity," Mayor Johnson said at a news conference  Wednesday morning, "because at the end of the day, building a safer city also means building a more just and compassionate one, where every young person, every family, and every community knows they are seen, supported, and worthy of opportunity."

Mayor Johnson said he plans to bring up voting rights, immigration rights, and workers' rights with the pope. The war with Iran is also expected to be addressed.

"We're going to really highlight ways in which the city of Chicago is showing up, but really how mayors across the globe are showing up, and how his leadership and his pulpit can help shine a light on the places in the world where grievances are quite severe and have been ignored," the mayor said earlier this week.

There will be both serious and non-serious topics on the agenda, the mayor said.

"It's going to be a very full, rich conversation," Johnson said. "And of course, the conversation will not end without us having a real substantive debate around our Cubbies and his Sox."

The mayor isn't going alone. A 50-member delegation from Chicago has been touring the town with members from Rome's city council.

The group will meet with Pope Leo on Thursday. Many Chicagoans have met personally with the pope over the past year, but this group representing Chicago's public, private, and religious communities is one of the largest to date.

As Pope Leo addressed crowds at St Peter's Square for his regular Wednesday audience, delegation members continued to arrive in Rome. 

A handful spent the afternoon touring sustainable projects throughout the metropolitan area as part of their cultural exchange with the city of Rome. They included Mayor Johnson's chief sustainability officer, Angela Tovar and Deputy Mayor for Business, Economic, and Neighborhood Development Max Budovitch.

"Within my work at the city, I'm focused on sustainability, and the Vatican has a very robust sustainability plan. You know, sustainability as the way we view it within the city is very much tied to our social justice efforts," Tovar said.

How does Chicago benefit from the delegation's excursion to the Vatican?

"I think this is a great example of what we saw here today, investments in people; cities investing in people and working people and everyday people," Budovitch said.

The mayor left Chicago for Rome on Wednesday afternoon. On Thursday he will have a private one-on-one audience with the pope, followed by a general audience with the entire delegation. 

Delegates joining Johnson on the trip are responsible for their own travel without any assistance from tax dollars, according to the city.

The delegation includes members of the City Council, and business and religious leaders whose travel will be covered by the nonprofit World Business Chicago.

"Certainly, to be on the schedule is a mark of prestige," said journalist Francis X. Rocca, the Vatican editor for the Catholic network, EWTN News. "Because this pope is American, those meetings with Americans can take on much more weight. They get a lot of attention. They have more impact."

Meanwhile, CBS News Chicago has learned that Mayor Johnson packed a special gift from the pope — a jar of hot giardiniera from J.P. Graziano's grocery store. Owner Jim Graziano said his family is honored.

"Our great-grandfather started there in 1937, so we've been part of Chicago's history on that corner for a very long time," Graziano said, "and it's really something to get that sort of recognition for the mayor's office to consider you an iconic piece of Chicago, so much so that you would bring a gift out to the pope for it."

Graziano included a special message from him and his sister with the jar. It said, "Your Holiness, I hope you enjoy a taste of real Chicago."

Mayor Johnson said he will also bring the pope a Cubs hat and Cubs jersey. It's not clear how that will go over, since the pope is devoted to the White Sox.

Pope Leo XIV grew up in south suburban Dolton.

Johnson will be in Rome through Saturday. World Business Chicago is funding the trip.