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The newly elected head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, is from Chicago -- and one Windy City-based restaurant chain is celebrating in a big way.

A Chicago-born cardinal walks into a conclave. The rest of the joke tells itself. In the breathless day since Pope Leo XIV’s election as the first American pontiff, the memes, doctored images and tongue-in-cheek references have piled up deeper than Chicago’s pizza and more loaded than its hot dog.

Pope Leo XIV is busy in his first full week of work in the Vatican, but will he consider making a trip home to Chicago in the near future?

Cardinal Blase Cupich, Archbishop of Chicago, said he expects Pope Leo XIV "feels an obligation," to speak to what he called the issues of the day, amid "real challenges globally."

Many sites associated with past popes have become museums or holy destinations for the faithful. But Pope Leo XIV’s childhood church closed years ago.

Chicagoans celebrated the historic election of Pope Leo XIV, the first pope from the U.S. and a Chicago native, with joy and hope for a renewed focus on social justice and unity within the Catholic Church.

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Pope Leo XIV has made peace with Jannik Sinner. The top-ranked tennis player visited the new pope on Wednesday, gave him a tennis racket and offered to play, during an off day for Sinner at the Italian Open.

LIVE UPDATES: History is made with Pope Leo XIV, first-ever pontiff from U.S. Who are Cardinal ... is of Spanish descent. The Chicago Sun-Times has reported his father was an educator and his mother Mildred a librarian. Prevost was born Sept.

A Midwesterner, like the new Pope Leo XIV, Burger swelled with pride and saw a little opportunity for motivation. “Basically, I kind of thought: New Pope, new me,” Burger said Wednesday night. “He’s a Midwestern guy like me. I was proud. And since he’s been elected Pope, we’ve been rather hot.”

A popular Chicago restaurant chain is celebrating the election of Pope Leo XIV with a sandwich named in the pontiff's honor.