Mayor Brandon Johnson stopped by a South Side restaurant Sunday afternoon before his visit to the Vatican. There, he rallied supporters with his plans to discuss foreign affairs, affordability — and Chicago sports teams — with Pope Leo XIV.

Johnson revived his earlier promise to present the Chicago-born Pope, who also holds the title of the world’s most famous White Sox fan, with a Cubs hat.

The mayor then chuckled before the crowd, which was decidedly in Sox territory, adding, “Just relax. We know what team he roots for.”

Afterward, Johnson responded to a question from a reporter about whether he intends to convert the Pope to a Cubs fan by pivoting to another hot sports topic in local politics: the Chicago Bears.

“I do know one thing that we’re all on the same page about, is that the pope believes, like I believe, that the Bears belong in Chicago,” the mayor said.

That was a reference to the final stretch of negotiations in Springfield over a bill that could compel the NFL franchise to build a new stadium in Arlington Heights. The mayor opposes that legislation in favor of building a new stadium in the city, preferably the 2024 plan that has long stalled in Springfield and requires public financing to build a publicly owned, domed stadium near Soldier Field.

Johnson is heading to Rome this week with a delegation from World Business Chicago, or WBC, the first time in a decade that the pope has hosted a Chicago mayor. During his lunch at the popular South Side soul food restaurant on Sunday, Johnson said he will use his meeting, scheduled for Thursday, to discuss their shared condemnation of “endless illegal wars” as well as the mayor’s executive orders during President Donald Trump’s second term.

However, Johnson did not say whether he would discuss Trump — who has attacked both him and the pope in social media posts — during his sit-down at the Vatican. The mayor also nodded to Jacqueline Jackson, the widow of Johnson’s mentor, the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., as the mayor shared his goals for the trip with the crowd.

“I’m going to do my best to channel the great humanitarian and civil rights leader in Rev. Jesse Jackson, and … how the pope has used his pulpit to really shine a light on the conditions that exist around the globe,” Johnson said. “In this season, we’re going to need the pulpit and the pen to come together to deliver justice for all of humanity.”

Johnson has signed a series of executive orders aimed at restricting federal immigration action in Chicago, though some of them have been criticized by opponents as merely symbolic. Still, his progressive base has lauded his firm stance against last fall’s Operation Midway Blitz deportation campaign and other attacks from the Trump administration.

The mayor’s team has not released the official delegation list yet or the cost of the trip to Rome, which will be covered by WBC. He noted that religious leaders from across faiths in Chicago will be coming. Bishop Horace E. Smith of Apostolic Faith Church in Bronzeville and Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann of Mishkan Chicago confirmed to the Tribune that they will be attending.

Johnson’s top business liaison, Charles Smith, also said he was considering joining the trip but wanted to prioritize Bears stadium negotiations before Springfield wraps up its spring session this month.

Earlier in the morning, the mayor attended Sunday mass at St. Benedict the African in Englewood. Johnson, the son of a pastor, has often invoked religious imagery throughout his campaign stops and pressers. He is currently a member of Lawndale Christian Church.

“We’re really grateful that Pope Leo has his roots right here in Chicago,” Johnson said. “Chicago has been the epicenter for justice, and I’m going to make sure I use this opportunity to lift up, of course, the work that he’s doing exposing the catastrophes and the evils of the world, while also bringing hope to the world.”