Overview
- In a private 40-minute Vatican audience Wednesday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker raised concerns over the Trump administration’s Chicago deportation campaign and delivered a formal invitation to visit the city.
- Pritzker reported that Pope Leo XIV was optimistic about coming to Chicago after hearing the invitation.
- The governor told the pope federal activity in Illinois had eased, citing fewer ICE and Border Patrol agents, no National Guard deployment, DHS’s departure from Naval Station Great Lakes, and a Border Patrol commander’s shift to Charlotte.
- Gifts included art and a letter from an incarcerated woman, a Lincoln book, MK Pritzker’s book on the governor’s mansion, and a four-pack of Burning Bush Brewery’s Da Pope ale, which the pope said would go “in the fridge.”
- Cardinal Blase Cupich helped arrange the meeting, which included MK Pritzker and chief of staff Anne Caprara, aligning with Pope Leo’s focus on humane treatment of migrants and his roots in the Chicago area.