A delegation of Illinois mayors led by Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin was granted an audience with Pope Leo XIV Monday, as the pontiff urged them to be attentive to the most vulnerable members of their communities.
The pope encouraged the delegation from the Illinois Municipal League “to continue listening to the poor, to immigrants, and all of to the least among you,” according to prepared remarks provided by The Holy See press office.
“In this way, each of your municipalities may be places for genuine encounter among all citizens, providing opportunities for every individual to flourish,” Pope Leo said.
The trip falls during Holy Week, one of the holiest times of the year for Catholics.
“To be a part of going to meet His Holiness, who is also from the Chicago area, it is to all of us a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Chalmers-Currin, who is president of the league. “The overall focus is diplomacy and to have institutional dialogue and cultural exchange.”
During the audience, the pope emphasized that authority should be understood as service and said civic leaders should work to understand the lives and challenges of their residents, according to the prepared remarks.
Quoting former mayor of Florence, Giorgio La Pira, the pope said, “Mayors are called to reduce and alleviate suffering and difficulties among their citizens in every way possible, ‘with all of the measures that love suggests and the law provides.'”
The pope cited St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, also known as Mother Cabrini, during the meeting, “who ministered to the most vulnerable with great love and devotion for many years in Chicago, and I gladly bless each one of you and all your loved ones from the heart.”
The trip has been under discussion since Leo was named pope last year, Chalmers-Currin said, and the delegation consists of about 50 people, including mayors, their spouses and other elected officials.
“We have mayors going from as far up north as Rockford and as far down as Carbondale,” Chalmers-Currin said.
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Most of the mayors on the trip are members of the Illinois Municipal League executive board, according to Chalmers-Currin. The trip was funded by the league and by some individual villages, Chalmers-Currin said, though spouses’ travel expenses had to be paid independently.
Chalmers-Currin said ahead of the trip she hoped the delegation could bring whatever wisdom or insights the pope had to offer back to Illinois.
“We are there to listen and to hear and to return with that information,” she said.
The delegation planned to present the pope with a book about the history of Illinois Capitol, among other gifts, Chalmers-Currin said.
“There are others, but that’s the one where all of the members of this delegation will sign,” Chalmers-Currin said. “We figured he’s already been given enough Sox hats.”
Chalmers-Currin is not Catholic, though many of the other members of the delegation are, she said.
“My friends who are who are Catholic have brought me their rosary beads and want me to take them there,” Chalmers-Currin said. “Baptist girl, born in Tennessee and raised in Chicago, this is just an amazing, amazing time for me.”
The delegation left Illinois March 28, and will return on April 2.
The delegation’s itinerary began with Palm Sunday Mass at the Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, one of the oldest church sites in Rome, Chalmers-Currin said.
The delegation was also scheduled to meet with Brian Burch, the U.S. ambassador to the Holy See.