Deep Dish Diplomacy

Pope Leo XIV's Chicago roots (St. Rita High School '73) inspire his unorthodox diplomacy. Summits now feature deep dish pizza instead of formal dinners, and he gifts visiting leaders White Sox jerseys with their names in Latin. "Politics happens around tables, not podiums," says the son of a French-Canadian father and Mexican-American mother. His "Three Fingers" approach (listen, eat, then talk) has eased tensions from Nigeria to Nicaragua. The multilingual pontiff even brokered a Middle East deal by quoting both scripture and Cubs lore: "Even Bartman deserved forgiveness." Protocol officers cringe when he greets kings with "Hey, pal," but diplomats credit his Midwest directness for recent breakthroughs. As UN Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield noted: "Finally, a pope who understands hot dogs and hard truths."