Da Pope Beer Summit: Pritzker Gifts Leo XIV Brew as They Blast ICE Raids

Pritzker flew to Rome to enlist Leo’s support against Trump’s immigration raids terrorizing Chicago — and even gifted the Chicago-born pope some local craft beer named “Da Pope Beer”

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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.

Despite officials billing it as a hunt for “the worst of the worst,” nearly all those swept up had no criminal record or public-safety threat.

The raids have terrorized immigrant neighborhoods: protestors clashed with federal agents outside a detention center in suburban Broadview, and ICE officers even deployed tear gas in residential streets.

For Gov. Pritzker, the humanitarian toll was intolerable — and Pope Leo clearly agreed. Even before this face-to-face, Leo XIV had forcefully condemned what he called the “extremely disrespectful” way migrants are being treated under Trump’s policies.

At the pope’s urging, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops issued a statement last week denouncing the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and the “dehumanizing” rhetoric and violence accompanying the raids.

“We have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have,” Leo told reporters on Tuesday, stressing that even those in the country illegally should be dealt with through courts and due process.

Pritzker, for his part, hasn’t been shy about lambasting the raids from Springfield.

The governor has spoken out almost daily against Midway Blitz, and he used his Vatican visit to update Leo on the situation.

“He wanted to hear my views and asked a few questions about what the situation is on the ground right now,” Pritzker told NBC, adding that the pontiff was “pleased” to hear the ICE operations were finally winding down.

In a symbolic gesture, Pritzker also formally invited the pope — who was born in Chicago and raised in nearby Dolton — to come visit his hometown. The last time a pope visited Chicago was 1979, when John Paul II drew a massive crowd in Grant Park.

The Politics of a Papal Pilgrimage

The optics of this encounter are striking. Pritzker’s trip marks the first time a major U.S. politician has made a pilgrimage to meet Pope Leo since the pontiff’s inauguration in May, when U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio led the American delegation in Rome.

Now Pritzker — a blue-state governor who openly diverges from Catholic teaching on issues like abortion, yet finds common cause with Leo on migrant rights — has effectively sought a papal ally.

The meeting even had a friendly Chicago flavor (the governor calling Leo a “son of Illinois” and bringing gifts of Illinois art, history books, and that hometown beer.

It’s not every day a Jewish Democratic governor swaps stories with a Catholic pope, but both men know the value of solidarity across political and religious lines.

Notably, President Donald Trump — back in the White House after winning the election last November — has yet to even call Pope Leo, despite the pope having spoken with dozens of other world leaders since his election.

The silence is telling. Leo XIV has not hesitated to challenge Trump’s signature policies, describing America’s migrant detention practices as “inhuman” and lamenting the “physical and spiritual mistreatment” of immigrants.

Leo, however, refrains from attacking Trump by name. In this delicate dance, Rome offers moral clarity while Washington offers mostly indifference. As one Vatican insider put it, the first American pope is uniquely positioned to prod an “America First” president’s conscience — if that president would ever pick up the phone.

From Pritzker’s perspective, the audience with Leo XIV wasn’t just about Illinois.

It was a signal to American Catholics. In the 2024 election, Catholic swing voters broke decisively Republican, handing Trump a double digit victory among Catholic voters nationwide.

One post-mortem memo bluntly warned that “Democrats have a Catholic problem” going forward.

Pritzker’s high-profile meeting with the pope – and his praise for Leo’s message of compassion “resonating with Illinoisans of all faiths” — shows a Democrat actively engaging Catholic social teaching rather than ceding moral issues to the right.

As a Democrat who may seek the presidency, Pritzker seems keenly aware that his party must rebuild trust with Catholic communities.

This is a mission I’m personally invested in.

After 2024’s disappointments, I am determined to ensure that politicians in 2028 take the Catholic vote seriously — not by pandering, but by truly listening to Catholic values of human dignity, justice, and hope.

I will have much more to say on this in the coming weeks and months, as we work to turn inspiration into action.

Letters from Leo is open to anyone who wants to be informed and inspired by our pope — and to turn that inspiration into action that leaves America and the world more just, less cold, and more alive with hope.

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Thank you for reading. I’ll see you on the road.