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Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker was granted an audience with fellow Illini Pope Leo XIV, where the two exchanged gifts and discussed their collective criticisms of President Donald Trump’s “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, which was set up with the help of Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich.
Pritzker and Leo reportedly discussed their reservations about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement operations in Illinois and Chicago, specifically, with the governor saying that the pope agreed with his feeling of pride that “the people of Chicago stood up against the oppression that’s been brought on immigrants.”
Pritzker told Chicago’s NBC affiliate that the pope has strong feelings about ICE’s activities and that the pontiff wanted to hear Pritzker’s views and asked questions about the state of Midway Blitz.
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Leo was reportedly heartened when told the operation appeared to be winding down in Chicago, according to Pritzker’s comments.
Earlier this month, a group of U.S. bishops released a statement supported by Leo that criticized some of ICE’s operations – including mass deportations – and spoke of public fears about the missions.
Released from Baltimore, the statement – endorsed by a vote of 216-5 with three clergy abstaining – read in part that bishops are “bound to our people by ties of communion and compassion in Our Lord Jesus Christ [and] are disturbed when we see among our people a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.”
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Leo had also called into question whether people who oppose abortion but agree with the “inhuman 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’s a system of justice,” he told the Italian press 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 its own right to determine immigration procedures and laws.
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“No one has said that the United States should have open borders,” Leo, born Robert Prevost, said.
Pritzker said of his audience that “you could feel [the pope’s] humanity.”
“It was a special moment, even for this Jewish boy,” he said.
The governor also invited Leo to visit Chicago and presented him with a case of “Da Pope” beer from local Illinois brewery, Burning Bush.
“We’ll put that in the fridge,” the pope quipped as he smiled at the gift.
The last papal visit to Chicago was in 1979 when John Paul II held an audience at Grant Park, according to Capitol News Illinois.
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