Pope Leo XIV is busy in his first full week of work in the Vatican, but will he consider making a trip home to Chicago in the near future?

The pope’s schedule is packed with a variety of meetings, including a gathering of thousands of journalists at the Vatican on Monday who had been in Rome to cover the events of the conclave.

He thanked reporters for their work, and even made a joke about his ability to captivate an audience as he gets settled into his new role.

“Thank you for this wonderful reception. They say when they clap at the beginning, it doesn’t matter much. IF you’re still awake at the end and still want to applaud, thank you very much,” he said.

The pope addressed a variety of topics in the world of journalism, calling for incarcerated journalists to be freed and urging caution with the advent of artificial intelligence in the profession.

After the event, Leo spoke to several prominent journalists, including NBC Nightly News anchor Lester Holt.

Holt, who spent more than a decade of his career in journalism in Chicago, told NBC Chicago’s Mary Ann Ahern that he asked Pope Leo directly if he planned on visiting his hometown any time soon.

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“I asked him specifically ‘any chances of getting back home,’ meaning Chicago or the United States, and he said ‘I don’t think so,’” Holt said. “I think that falls in line with what we’ve been hearing, that he has a lot of work to do in the Vatican, and that’s his main focus.”

Holt also reported that the pope had heard of people returning to Catholicism after he was chosen as the first-ever American pope, but that he’s still “finding out for himself” what that legacy means as his tenure begins.

When and if Pope Leo XIV visits the United States, he would join a select group of pontiffs to do so. The last four popes have visited the United States, with the most recent visit coming when Pope Francis visited Washington, D.C., New York and Philadelphia in 2015.

Only one pope has ever visited Chicago, with Pope John Paul II visiting the city in 1979 and holding a mass in Grant Park in October of that year.

Pope Leo XIV will continue holding a series of events and meetings throughout this week leading up to a big day Sunday when his official inauguration takes place in Rome.