“Pope-a-roni”: How Chicago Pizza Made Its Way to the Vatican

First of all, it was not a corporate idea.

The delivery of pepperoni pizza to Pope Leo XIV straight from his hometown, Chicago, Illinois, to Tor Vergato on the outskirts of Rome during last week’s Jubilee of Youth celebration is trending on social media and making headlines across all media platforms worldwide, but what is not widely known is who authored the idea.

During the Jubilee Youth celebration, a video clip showed a delegate from Cincinatti, Ohio, named Madeleine Daley hoisting a sign “Pizza from Aurelio’s” while holding a box of pepperoni pizza from Homewood, a childhood favorite of Pope Leo XIV.

Pope Leo XIV, whose given name is Robert Francis Prevost was born in Chicago and attended school there. He joined the Augustinian order in his 20s and later served as the head of the local Augustinian province in Chicago.  He also taught at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago where he is known simply as Fr. Bob.

In August 2024, he visited his hometown, Homewood and greeted old-time friends running the local pizza place.  According to Joe Aurelio, owner and CEO of Aurelio’s Pizza, Fr. Bob ordered pepperoni pizza.

After the conclave on May 7, 2025, Aurelio’s had the table where Fr. Bob dined designated as the Pope’s table.  A wooden carved chair from the local church was also placed beside the table to preserve the spot for posterity. 

What seemed like a simple remembrance of a visit from the first American pope became a great content idea for a digital content creator in Ohio.

Interviewed by CNN, Catholic content coordinator Madeleine Daley said the idea of delivering Pope Leo’s favorite pizza from Aurelio’s was hatched by Jayden Ramirez, a Catholic content creator also based in Ohio.

“Jayden said he had this idea coming to him in prayer, thinking about his content, and he wanted to try to accomplish one of the challenges like what massive YouTubers do,” Daley said.

“But he wanted the content not to be about fame, success and money but rather to edify the soul and uplift the life of the viewer.”

Daley said Ramirez wasn’t able to go to Rome for the Youth Jubilee because he has a 7-month-old baby and didn’t want to leave his wife.  When he learned that Daley was going, he asked her to bring the pizza pie to Rome. 

The logistics of getting the pie from Chicago to Italy meant crossing 5,000 miles.  Daley sought clearance from the Italian Customs Bureau, which gave her the green light.  Next, she went to get some dry ice to ensure that the perishable cargo remains fresh and safe to eat after a 9-hour travel time.

Asked how she felt that Pope Leo was all smiles receiving his favorite pepperoni pizza, Daley said the whole scene was “wild”.

But Daley said, it also made her feel sad for the American pope, “because he was so excited about the pizza and I thought this man is never gonna go home, the same person he was back when he was a child eating this pizza.”

“But it made me so joyful, too.  I got to remind him of home. I got to remind him of America and what he loves back home.”

Pope Leo must have missed the Chicago pizza so much that “he ate every bite of it,” according to his brother in an interview with a CNN affiliate station.

The surge in popularity on social media and other media platforms around Pope Leo’s pizza preference had the owners of Aurelio’s Pizza applying for a copyright for “Pope-a-roni,” the pie named after their beloved loyal client.

Asked how he felt about the God-send public relations attention, Mr. Aurelio said he is very grateful.  He is reportedly thinking of rewarding Daley and Ramirez with a “lifetime supply of Aurelio’s pizza” for making it happen.