Published on November 19, 2025 6:57 pm
Last Updated on November 19, 2025 7:01 pm
By Capitol News Illinois
bmoore@capitolnewsillinois.com
Capitol News Illinois reports that Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker met with Pope Leo XIV in Rome today, with the two discussing the Trump administration’s aggressive immigration raids and the governor formally inviting the Chicago-born pontiff back for a visit to his hometown.
The governor’s office said that Pritzker and his wife, first lady MK Pritzker, met with the pope for 40 minutes, where they offered “well-wishes and deep gratitude… for his public service and for his positive representation of Chicago, Illinois, and the United States.” Pritzker’s chief of staff, Anne Caprara, also was present for the meeting.
The governor wrote on social media afterward that it was “an honor” to meet “a son of Illinois” and “to express the pride and reverence of the people of this great state.” “Pope Leo XIV’s message of hope, compassion, unity and peace resonates with Illinoisans of all faiths and traditions,” said Pritzker, who is Jewish.
Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich helped arrange the private audience, according to the governor’s office.
Pritzker, a Democrat, diverges from many teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. But the governor and pope have found common cause in their advocacy for the rights of immigrants.
At the pope’s urging, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops released a statement last week condemning the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and calling for “an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence” against immigrants. Pope Leo, asked about the bishops’ statement by reporters in Rome on Tuesday, said he was troubled by the “extremely disrespectful” way migrants have been treated.
“We have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have,” the pope said. “If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts. There’s a system of justice.”
Pritzker told NBC 5 Chicago that Pope Leo “wanted to hear my views and asked a few questions about what the situation is on the ground right now”.
In addition to a discussion of immigration, Pritzker brought “good tidings from Chicago” — and a formal invitation for the pontiff, born in the city and raised in suburban Dolton, to visit. The last time a pope visited Chicago was 1979, when Pope John Paul II held a three-hour Mass for worshipers in Grant Park.
The Pritzkers presented Pope Leo with a series of gifts, including art from an incarcerated woman at Logan Correctional Center, the book “Lincoln: The Life and Legacy that Defined a Nation” by Ian Hunt, a copy of MK Pritzker’s book on the history of the Illinois Governor’s Mansion, and a pack of Chicago-based Burning Bush Brewery’s Da Pope American Mild Ale.
“We’ll put that in the fridge,” the pope said, according to video from Catholic television network EWTN.
Pritzker is not the first Illinois elected official to receive an audience with Pope Leo. Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias met the pontiff in Rome last month, presenting him with a White Sox-themed Illinois specialty license plate. And Chicago Alderman Bill Conway made the pilgrimage in August.
Capitol News Illinois is a nonprofit, nonpartisan news service that distributes state government coverage to hundreds of news outlets statewide. It is funded primarily by the Illinois Press Foundation and the Robert R. McCormick Foundation.
