“Throughout the whole encounter, it was clear that I was talking to Father Bob from the South Side of Chicago,” Ald. Bill Conway (34th Ward) said. “He had a midwestern accent like us Chicagoans do.”
Conway is the first locally elected politician to meet the pope. Last week, he made a trip to the Vatican with friend and entrepreneur Robert Blackwell Jr.
During the meeting, Conway presented the pope with a framed resolution passed by the Chicago city council.
“He expressed gratitude for that, and I asked him to pray for Chicago and its people. He said, ‘I do,’ and I don’t know if he meant I do as in I will or I do as in I do all the time,” Conway said.
During their encounter, Blackwell, founder of Killerspin, a Chicago-based table tennis company focused on connecting people through break time play, gave the pontiff, who loves tennis, a custom-made ping pong table and paddles.
“We created this table, which is a combination of his insignia and kind of a Chicago theme,” Blackwell said. “When he picked up the paddle, I got the sense that he knows how to play table tennis too.”
In 2016, Blackwell also presented Pope Francis with his own ping pong table.
Like his predecessor, Pope Leo is known for his humanitarianism, a characteristic Blackwell embodies too.
He says as Killerspin prepares to celebrate 25 years, he’s focused on connecting customers with agents living with autism or who come from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.
“This isn’t charity, this is trying to give people dignity,” Blackwell said.
During his brief encounter with Pope Leo, Conway says he immediately sensed the pontiff’s calm and kind demeanor and looks forward to potentially seeing Pope Leo back at home one day.
“I certainly hope that the pope will make it to Chicago. We’d love to see him, although he is a very busy man being in charge of a billion Catholics,” Conway said.
Today's links No one wants a permanent gerontocracy: The one policy everyone agrees on. Hey…
For the past two decades, electrification has been central to Africa’s development agenda. Although nearly 600 million…
For the past two decades, electrification has been central to Africa’s development agenda. Although nearly 600 million…
If you spent the last two years building any kind of content workflow on top…
If you spent the last two years building any kind of content workflow on top…
Businesses around the world are starting to think about the importance of security in the…
This website uses cookies.