For the first time since Pope Leo XIV’s historic election, an American governor has come calling at the Vatican. Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker — a rising Democratic star widely seen as a potential 2028 presidential contender — met the new pope in Rome this week for a 40-minute private audience.
They prayed together, talked policy, and even cracked a joke over a cold one (sort of).
The two Chicago natives discussed the recent immigration raids terrorizing families in Illinois, an issue both have vocally opposed. Pritzker even brought the pontiff a local Chicago beer called “Da Pope” — which Leo accepted with a smile, quipping, “We’ll put that in the fridge.”
Common Cause: Confronting “Operation Midway Blitz”
At the heart of the meeting was a shared outrage at the Trump-Vance administration’s aggressive immigration crackdown in Illinois.
In recent months, federal agents carried out Operation Midway Blitz in the Chicago area — an enforcement campaign that saw some 3,300 people arrested locally…