Matteson Mayor Sheila Chalmers-Currin said she will never forget seeing Pope Leo XIV smile as he looked at a photo of his childhood home in Dolton.
Chalmers-Currin, who is president of the Illinois Municipal League, led a delegation of Illinois mayors to Vatican City last week, where they were granted a private audience with the pope.
One of the gifts the delegation presented to the pope was a plaque with a photo of his boyhood home in Dolton. The village of Dolton purchased the house last year, and is developing plans for its future.
“I thought of that as something that I will always remember,” Chalmers-Currin said. “He looked at the house — I’m sure it looked a little different than what he remembered, I don’t know if it had a red door when he was living there as a child, but I know that that’s what was on there then — and he smiled.”
Tourists take pictures of Pope Leo XIV’s childhood home during a bus tour stop in Dolton Sept. 6, 2025. (Troy Stolt/for the Daily Southtown)
Chalmers-Currin and other members of the delegation were struck by the pope’s familiarity with Illinois and the Chicago area, she said.
“He knew, when you mentioned a town in the state of Illinois, he says, ‘Oh, yes, I know. Oh yes, I’ve been there,’” Chalmers-Currin said. “It is something, to have such a relatable pope to our community and to our state.”
The delegation included about 20 mayors, Chalmers-Currin said, including the mayors of Lemont, Kankakee, North Chicago and Bolingbrook. A full list of participating mayors was not available Tuesday from the Illinois Municipal League.
“I told him I was the mayor of the village of Matteson. He said, ‘Of course, I know where that’s at,’” Chalmers-Currin recalled. “He said that, what shocked me, that he’d lived in the village of Matteson.”
She didn’t get the chance to ask him where exactly in Matteson he’d lived, she said, though she hopes to find out using records.
“He knew Lincoln Mall, he knew the town, he knew the area,” Chalmers-Currin said.
Lincoln Mall in Matteson opened in 1973, and was the first enclosed mall in the far south suburbs. It was demolished in 2018.
Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the Illinois Municipal League in Vatican City March 30, 2026. (Vatican Media)
Lemont Mayor John Egofske said the experience was particularly important to him because of his Catholic faith. His Catholicism is one of the reasons he moved to Lemont, Egofske said.
“It was really cool to kind of bring it full circle, to meet him and to hear his message,” Egofske said.
He described the pope as a warm, friendly person.
“I said, ‘Hey, we’re from Lemont, we’re known as the village of faith,’” Egofske said. “He smiled, and said, ‘Oh yeah, Lemont, I know Lemont.’ Just a very warm person, very hospitable.”
Egofske recounted the pope served Mass at Providence Catholic High School in New Lenox before he was named pope.
“My daughter met him, obviously before he was the pope,” Egofske said. “We shared that with him as well.”
Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the Illinois Municipal League in Vatican City March 30. (Vatican Media)
Chalmers-Currin described the pope as humble and very personable.
“He took the time to shake the hands of all the individuals there,” Chalmers-Currin said. “He took the time to greet each and every one of them.”
The pope’s address to the delegation focused on the theme of authority as service, according to prepared remarks shared by the Holy See press office.
“He stressed that authority must be understood as service,” Chalmers-Currin said. “The example he gave was that Christ came not to be served, but to serve.”
The delegation’s trip took place during Holy Week leading up to Easter, when Catholics celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Pope Leo XIV meets with members of the Illinois Municipal League in Vatican City March 30. (Vatican Media)
In the pope’s remarks, he instructed the municipal leaders to pay close attention to their residents’ hopes and struggles, especially the most vulnerable.
“While there are many tasks that vie for your attention each day, I would encourage you to continue listening to the poor, to immigrants, to the least among you, seeking to accompany them in your work to promote the common good to the benefit of all,” the pope said, according to his prepared remarks.
Chalmers-Currin said that message resonated strongly with her.
“One of the things that he emphasized is that effective governance requires a real understanding of people’s lives, and that you must first strive to know people’s aspirations as well as their challenges,” Chalmers-Currin said. “We have to look at the people in our community, and know their faces.”
elewis@chicagotribune.com