What is Pope Leo's favorite pizza? Hint: It was delivered from Chicago to Vatican

Pope Leo XIV received a special care package from back home in Chicago while he was riding through St Peter's Square in Rome on July 30.

Updated on: Aug 1, 2025, 11:24:07 IST

By Shuvrajit Das Biswas

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Pope Leo XIV got his favorite pizza, all the way from Chicago to the Vatican. The 69-year-old, formerly known as Cardinal Robert Prevost, before he became the first American Pope this April, got a special care package from fans, as he was riding through St Peter's Square in Rome on July 30.

Pope Leo XIV was making his way through the crowd in the Vatican, when he saw a pizza sign and stopped in his tracks. (AP)

The video shows the Pope riding in a vehicle, making his way through the crowd, when he sees a pizza sign and stops in his tracks.

What is the Pope's favorite pizza?

Seeing the sign of Aurelio’s Pizza brought the Pope to a halt and Madeline Daley, the 22-year-old from Cincinnati, who made the trip to deliver the pizza spoke about her experience to NBC News.

"When Pope Leo came around, he kept grabbing babies to bless them, but as soon as he saw the pizza, he had babies in his hand, but he’s still saying, like, ‘Get me that pizza, I want that pizza,’ ” she said in a video interview.

“And seeing the logo made him light up, and his smile was from ear to ear and he was extremely excited about it,” she added.

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John Prevost, the Pope's brother confirmed that he ate the six-inch pepperoni pizza, which was shipped using dry ice, WGN-TV reported.

President and CEO of Aurelio’s Pizza, Joe Aurelio, meanwhile, told NBC News “Pope Leo has been a lifetime Aurelio’s fan and going to Aurelio’s Pizza in Homewood, Ill., since the 1960s. So it’s been part of his life and for him to recognize [the pizza] and actually stop there in the audience was amazing.”

Daley's friends also told WGN-TV how they were a group of young Catholic influencers who made it their mission to get the Pope this pizza.

Jake Ochave of Virginia and Jayden Remias of Ohio went to Chicago to pick it up.

Aurelio's is an Illinois restaurant chain that specializing in thin crust varieties of Chicago-style pizzas. The chain has three corporate owned stores and 37 franchised locations in six states.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shuvrajit Das Biswas
Shuvrajit has over seven years of experience covering US, India, and world news. An English Literature postgraduate from Jadavpur University, Shuvrajit started off covering entertainment, gaming and all things pop culture. There were brief periods away from the media industry, with short stints in content marketing, ed-tech and academic editing. However, the newsroom beckoned and over the last few jobs, Shuvrajit has exceedingly focused on team functioning as well, including tracking news and assigning tasks, working on everyday breaking news, framing detailed coverage plans, and creating immersive and data-driven stories. In his time as a digital journalist, he has covered a Lok Sabha election, multiple state elections, Union Budgets and award ceremonies. He has also helped in planning content for company event panels in the past. For work, Shuvrajit enjoys dabbling with data visualization, editing tools, and AI chatbots and attempts to incorporate AI workflows in everyday tasks. He is deeply interested in geopolitics, sports, films and music. Prompting is a new fascination for Shuvrajit now. Apart from that, he can be found doom-scrolling, sharing memes, or cheering on his favorite football team.Read More

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