Illinois governor Pritzker meets Pope Leo XIV to discuss Trump ICE raids

Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker was granted a meeting with fellow Illini Pope Leo XIV; where the two exchanged gifts and discussed President Donald Trump’s collective criticism of the “Operation Midway Blitz” ICE enforcement mission.

“Pope Leo XIV’s message of hope, compassion, unity and peace resonates with Illinoisans of all faiths and traditions,” Pritzker said in a statement after the meeting, organized with the help of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich. he said.

Pritzker and Leo reportedly discussed the Trump administration’s reservations about immigration enforcement operations in Illinois and Chicago, with the governor specifically saying he acknowledged the pope’s sense of pride that “the people of Chicago have stood up against the oppression of immigrants.”

Pritzker told Chicago’s NBC affiliate He said the pope had strong feelings about ICE’s activities and that the pope wanted to hear Pritzker’s views and asked questions about the Midway Blitz situation.

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Based on Pritzker’s comments, Leo was reportedly encouraged when told the operation would end in Chicago.

Earlier this month, a group of U.S. bishops issued a statement supported by Leo criticizing some of ICE’s operations, including mass deportations, and citing public fears about missions.

The statement, issued from Baltimore and approved by a vote of 216 to 5, with three clergy abstaining, said in part that the bishops “are bound to our people by the bonds of community and compassion in our Lord Jesus Christ.” [and] “We are disturbed when we see a climate of fear and anxiety among our population around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”

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Leo had also raised the question of whether people who oppose abortion but accept the “inhumane treatment of immigrants in the United States” can be considered “pro-life.”

“If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts; there is a justice system,” he told Italian media at the time, adding that leaders should look for ways to treat people with dignity while enforcing the law.

But he added that every nation has the right to determine its immigration procedures and laws.

POPE LEO

“Nobody said the United States had to have open borders,” said Leo, born Robert Prevost.

‘You could feel it,’ Pritzker said of his audience [the pope’s] humanity.”

“This was a special moment, even for the Jewish child,” he said.

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The governor also invited Leo to visit Chicago and gifted him a case of “Da Pope” beer from local Illinois brewery Burning Bush.

The Pope smiled at the gift and said, “We will put this on the refrigerator.”

The Pope’s last visit to Chicago was during World War II in 1979. It was John Paul’s visit to an audience in Grant Park. Capitol News Illinois.