Illinois Lawmaker Proposes License Plate, Statue Featuring Pope Leo XIV

He's called 'da pope'.

You can't deny that it's a big ol' deal to be home to the Holy See. The Illinois legislative session is still keeping on and there's a new proposal from one lawmaker.

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According to the Chicago Sun Times, State Rep. Martin McLaughlin (R, Lake Barrington) proposed building a statue of Pope Leo XIV on the grounds of the Illinois state capitol. It would be along major figures that already have statues there, like Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham Lincoln, and memorials for fallen police officers, firefighters, and victims of 9/11.

No, at this point there isn't a sketch or anything of what that statue would look like. The Office of the Architect of the Capitol would get to design and place it.

Rep. McLaughlin said a fund would be formed to afford constructing the statue, one that accepted both public and private donations.

But the statue is only half of the measure. The other half is a license plate commemorating America's first pope.

In a statement, Rep. McLaughlin said:

This is not a religious monument. It's about acknowledging a truly historic moment. In more than 2,000 years no American, let alone an Illinoisan, has ever been elevated to the Papacy.  It's a global story with Illinois at the heart.

According to the measure, the special pope plates would be $27. Of that, $12 would go to offset the cost of the statue. The license plate would cost $17 to renew.