Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson describes his meeting with Pope Leo XIV, tying the Vatican conversation to rising pressures facing immigrant families, cut federal programs, ongoing wars, and the city’s efforts on reparations and sanctuary-style protections durin
The week Brandon Johnson met Pope Leo XIV, he also watched his eldest son graduate—an ordinary rite of passage that landed with extra weight because of what Johnson says his family, and his city, are inheriting.
Johnson. the mayor of Chicago. writes that he felt pride as his son stepped into adulthood. but kept thinking about “the wounded country and world” ahead of him. He points to what he calls rising costs in America and growing fear among immigrant communities. He says essential federal programs have been cut and healthcare and food assistance have been stripped from the most vulnerable.
Overseas, he describes wars continuing to claim the lives of the innocent and devastate survivors. In his telling, these pressures weren’t abstractions as he sat down with the pope—who, Johnson notes, is a “fellow son of Chicago.”
In their conversation, Johnson says they spoke about suffering caused by war and the need for peace in Gaza and Iran. He adds that the pope and he also discussed responsibility for elevating the voices of people living through hardship, both in Chicago and around the world.
The discussion, Johnson says, turned to a different kind of pain close to home. As the United States approaches its 250th birthday. he says they talked about the enduring consequences of slavery and what he calls the unfinished work of confronting it. Johnson writes that the pope understood that emancipation did not end the harms of slavery—and that the wounds continue to shape disparities in wealth. health. housing. and economic mobility.
Johnson says the pope steered the meeting away from policy sparring. Instead. he wanted to know how people were doing “back home.” One of the first questions Johnson says Pope Leo XIV asked him was how immigrant families have coped with aggressive enforcement actions. He says the pope also asked how communities are confronting violence and unemployment. and how working families are managing amid rising costs and growing uncertainty.
As Juneteenth approaches, Johnson says those questions are not ones the country can ignore.
He argues that the racial inequities people are grappling with today didn’t “emerge by accident. ” but are the result of generations of exclusion. segregation. and disinvestment. Johnson says Chicago is continuing to advance the work of its reparations task force and investing in communities he says have been left behind.
In Chicago, Johnson writes, facing painful history—including what he describes as the frayed relationship between police and Black Chicagoans—is necessary to rebuild trust. He says justice requires action, not only acknowledgment.
Johnson then connects that principle to immigration policy. writing that it also guides the city’s response to President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown. In his account. he told the pope that he has used the authority of his office to protect residents and to fight to ensure Chicago remains a welcoming city. He describes the targets of this crackdown as “human beings seeking” the basic goals families want: safety. stability. and the opportunity to build a better life.
Johnson frames Chicago’s approach as rooted in service and collective action. He points to the work of Rev. Jesse Jackson. writing that Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition united working people across racial. religious. and economic lines around a shared vision of justice. Johnson also name-checks Rabbi Lizzi Heydemann and the Inner-City Muslim Action Network. describing their work as an example of bringing people together despite differences—an act he says can be justice in practice.
When he met the pope. Johnson says he brought gifts from Chicago: copies of Pope Leo XIV’s parents’ DePaul University diplomas. letters from parishioners and immigrant families. and a “Keep Hope Alive” sweatshirt from Rainbow PUSH. He writes that the most important gift he carried was stories from Chicagoans.
The pope. Johnson says. gave him something in return—“the honor” of spending time with what he calls a righteous and fearless leader who believes human dignity must remain at the center of public life. Johnson says he thanked the pope for courage and for using his voice to call for peace. human dignity. and compassion at a time when he believes too many leaders are choosing fear and division.
In his closing remarks, Johnson calls the path forward clear: he writes that the country must protect one another, defend human dignity, prioritize the needs of the most vulnerable, reject fear and division, and work toward justice and peace rooted in shared responsibility to each other.
Brandon Johnson is the mayor of the city of Chicago.
Pope Leo XIV Brandon Johnson Chicago mayor immigration crackdown Juneteenth reparations task force Rainbow PUSH Gaza Iran slavery reparations human dignity