Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Pope Leo holds ‘multi-faith prayer’ with far-left Chicago mayor who celebrated ‘Abortion Provider Day’
Life Site News ^ | May 29, 2026 | Antonio Cambria

Posted on 05/31/2026 3:42:06 PM PDT by ebb tide

Pope Leo holds ‘multi-faith prayer’ with far-left Chicago mayor who celebrated ‘Abortion Provider Day’

Pope Leo met with radically pro-abortion, pro-LGBT Democrat Mayor Brandon Johnson and reportedly discussed Trump’s immigration policy, slavery reparations, and the Iran war.

Pope Leo XIV on Thursday met in a private audience with radical Chicago Democratic mayor Brandon Johnson, during which they reportedly discussed ICE raids in the city, slavery reparations, and the Iran war, but not key moral issues such as abortion and LGBT ideology, both of which Johnson supports.

While the Vatican has not disclosed what was discussed during the May 28 meeting, Johnson, a far-left Protestant, claimed during a press conference following the audience that the pair discussed President Donald Trump’s immigration policy and other concerns associated with the left. The mayor of Pope Leo’s native city offered no indication that the pontiff had discussed abortion or the LGBT agenda.

During the meeting, Johnson’s delegation joined Leo in a “multi-faith” prayer and invited the pope to visit his native city and celebrate Mass at Grant Park.

The mayor told reporters that Leo’s “position around Trump was more about disagreement with his approach.”

“The Pope wanted to know how ICE impacted our city and whether there were still examples of ICE raids happening in our city,” Johnson said. “I talked about how our rapid response community team came together to support families…. I talked about my executive orders, for which he was very gracious and encouraging, especially those I signed to protect the people of Chicago.”

Johnson’s executive orders also include one about so-called “violence against transgender women,” i.e., gender-confused men.

The mayor has a radically pro-abortion and pro-LGBT record, previously pledging to offer free abortion pills and to prosecute pro-life sidewalk counselors.

He additionally commemorated “National Abortion Provider Appreciation Day” in 2024.

“We commend the bravery and resilience of abortion providers and look forward to continuing to support their efforts to ensure that reproductive rights are upheld and respected,” Johnson said at the time. “Together, we can resist attempts to roll back the progress we have made, ensuring Chicago remains a sanctuary for choice.”

Moreover, the mayor’s team vowed to decrease the use of law enforcement against those who identify as “LGBT,” pledging “[n]o disparity in arrests between [so-called] LGBTQ+ and cisgender heterosexual populations, decreasing interactions with police,” and ending alleged “police harassment and neglect” toward gender-confused and homosexual people.

In the first year of his pontificate, Pope Leo, following his predecessor Pope Francis, has repeatedly denounced the Trump administration’s attempts to curb mass immigration. The 267th pontiff has said that the faithful will be judged for how they “receive the foreigner” and even falsely suggested that supporting the purported “inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States” under Trump is the same as supporting abortion.

The pope, along with the vast majority of Catholic prelates, while correctly stating that countries have an obligation to treat all migrants with human dignity, has largely failed to mention the issue of the heinous crimes committed by MS-13 gang members and others entering the United States illegally and how they are violating the human dignity of its citizens and other migrants. The Vatican has also ignored the lives saved by the administration’s policies.

Johnson also said that he had discussed the pontiff’s apology for the Church’s purported role in slavery in his first encyclical, Magnifica Humanitas, and the prospect of offering reparations for the practice. He noted, though, that Leo did not take a position on reparations.

“We talked about the conditions that the long legacy of slavery and disinvestment has had on Black Americans and Black people around the world,” the mayor of Chicago said. “I engaged in a conversation with him around reparations and why it is important to work to repair the harm caused by the brutal legacy of slavery.”

Critics of Leo’s encyclical have stressed that the Catholic Church played a key role in ending the institution of slavery. Indeed, Saint Patrick, a former slave himself, is widely considered by historians to be the first person to publicly condemn slavery. In 1537, Pope Paul III, in his encyclical Sublimis Deus, forbade the enslavement of the New World’s indigenous population under penalty of excommunication. Pope Gregory XVI’s 1839 encyclical In Supremo Apostolatus denounced the transatlantic slave trade almost 30 years before it was abolished in the United States.

Johnson, who supports the virtually unrestricted murder of unborn children, also said that he discussed the ongoing war in Iran with the pontiff, telling reporters that “illegal wars” not only lead to a “trail of tears and trauma” but also “harms and brutalize our humanity.” The American pontiff has been very critical of the war, leading to pushback from Trump.

“In the midst of a brutal, horrific, and ignorant tyrant that is currently occupying the White House, it is imperative that we really walk in the true essence of our faith,” Johnson told reporters after the audience. “The impact of his failures on our global economy is quite severe. It is a disgrace to the sensibility of our humanity.”

Interestingly, while Pope Leo takes the time to meet with the non-Catholic, leftist mayor of Chicago, he has not granted an audience to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which plans to consecrate four new bishops on July 1.

Father Davide Pagliarani, Superior General of the SSPX, shared in April that Leo has still not responded to their request to meet before the planned consecration date of July 1.

“Before possibly declaring schismatic a society which counts more than a thousand members, and which serves as a point of reference for hundreds of thousands of faithful throughout the world, it might be desirable to know personally those who are to be judged,” he said.

Instead, it has been reported that Leo’s Vatican plans to excommunicate the SSPX following the consecrations.


TOPICS: Catholic; Current Events; Moral Issues; Religion & Politics
KEYWORDS: anothercommiepope; antipope; politicalpope; popebob; popeleo
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-22 next last
“The Pope wanted to know how ICE impacted our city and whether there were still examples of ICE raids happening in our city,” Johnson said. “I talked about how our rapid response community team came together to support families…. I talked about my executive orders, for which he was very gracious and encouraging, especially those I signed to protect the people of Chicago.”

...

Interestingly, while Pope Leo takes the time to meet with the non-Catholic, leftist mayor of Chicago, he has not granted an audience to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX), which plans to consecrate four new bishops on July 1.

1 posted on 05/31/2026 3:42:06 PM PDT by ebb tide
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Al Hitan; Fedora; irishjuggler; Jaded; kalee; markomalley; miele man; Mrs. Don-o; ...

Ping


2 posted on 05/31/2026 3:42:54 PM PDT by ebb tide (Francis' sin-nodal "church" is not the Catholic Church.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

He’s gay.


3 posted on 05/31/2026 3:43:38 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum (If it ain't fun, you ain't doin' it right.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

Is he Catholic?


4 posted on 05/31/2026 3:47:27 PM PDT by MinorityRepublican
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

What a jackass.


5 posted on 05/31/2026 3:56:13 PM PDT by alstewartfan (I AM Charlie Kirk. ❤️✝️)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide
> they reportedly discussed ICE raids in the city <

ICE is pretty good at tossing out illegals. But nothing beats these guys.

The Swiss Guard. Proudly keeping illegals out of Vatican City since 1506.

6 posted on 05/31/2026 4:07:33 PM PDT by Leaning Right
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

ebby - “Interestingly, while Pope Leo takes the time to meet with the non-Catholic, leftist mayor of Chicago, he has not granted an audience to the Priestly Society of Saint Pius X (SSPX)”

What is “interestingly”, ebby is that you KNOW this is a
FALSE statement. sspx met with the Vatican in Febraury 2026 and were given instructions for further meetings. sspx reverted to Iranian type of negotiations by refusal and “interestingly” announced an intention to name bishops without authority, an excommuncational event. Why would you post such a known falsehood, ebby? Very Interestingly!


7 posted on 05/31/2026 4:09:03 PM PDT by Oystir ( )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

Pope Marx I


8 posted on 05/31/2026 4:30:43 PM PDT by Az Joe (Pope Marx I)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Oystir
Once again you are caught in another lie, oystir. Fr. Pagliarani twice requested a personal audience with Pope Leo. The uncharitable Pope Leo never responded to either request.

Instead your homo-hero, Tucho, "Heal Me With Your Mouth", Fernandez, invited Fr. Paliarniari his own personal audience. There Fernandez threw down his pink velvet gauntlet and demanded the SSPX accept VC II in toto, before any discussion of new bishops.

To date, Leo has refused any personal audience with the SSPX.

He has however granted a personal audience with another hero of yours: James Martin, S.J.

See my tagline.

9 posted on 05/31/2026 4:37:56 PM PDT by ebb tide (I have found that lying is common trait of homosexuals.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 7 | View Replies]

To: Leaning Right

Tear down that Vatican wall.

The immigration hypocrisy must end.


10 posted on 05/31/2026 4:44:26 PM PDT by cgbg (The definition of outstanding propaganda is when almost everybody believes the same lies.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 6 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide
I prefer Pope Beetlejuice...


11 posted on 05/31/2026 4:51:05 PM PDT by HYPOCRACY (There is no gravity. The earth just sucks. )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

Pope Leo appears to be overtly political.Only fair to ask this long time Chicago resident if he voted for the pro abortion Obama, Durbin, Pritzker, Johnson and Emmanuel.


12 posted on 05/31/2026 4:59:51 PM PDT by allendale
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

how long until the Pope starts worshiping Baal?


13 posted on 05/31/2026 5:06:50 PM PDT by TexasFreeper2009
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

Evil.


14 posted on 05/31/2026 5:08:29 PM PDT by Jane Long (Jesus is Lord!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

Jesus met those who needed salvation. Maybe Leo is trying to do the same?

🤦‍♂️nah!
Francis II is probably coordinating some sort Catholic apologetic service to abortion providers who’ve lost their employment recently!
Anything to diminish the Catholic faith!

Jesus PLEASS HELL US!!!!!


15 posted on 05/31/2026 5:13:45 PM PDT by bantam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 2 | View Replies]

To: cgbg

> The immigration hypocrisy must end. <

Yep. I have mentioned this here before. Awhile back I did a rough calculation. Based on its size, Vatican City can easily take in 2500 immigrants. And of course the Church has the money to feed, clothe, and house them all.

How many immigrants has the Vatican actually taken in?
I’m guessing the number is around zero.

Fun fact: Back in 2025 the Vatican increased its penalties for illegal entry into the city. Ain’t that something?


16 posted on 05/31/2026 5:26:48 PM PDT by Leaning Right
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 10 | View Replies]

To: bantam
Jesus met those who needed salvation.

But Jesus always tried to convert those souls he met.

Pope Leo doesn't.

17 posted on 05/31/2026 5:28:20 PM PDT by ebb tide (Francis' sin-nodal "church" is not the Catholic Church.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 15 | View Replies]

To: Az Joe

I thought Francis was bad, but Leo is even worse.


18 posted on 05/31/2026 5:45:42 PM PDT by Schatze (It's better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid than to open it and remove all doubt.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 8 | View Replies]

To: ebb tide

Whatever else he may be, the Pope Leo is a Chicago Democrat in the same way Francis was a Jesuit,


19 posted on 05/31/2026 6:11:12 PM PDT by Salman (The Democrats have seceded from the human race. It's time for Trump to go full Pinochet.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: alstewartfan

Yup.


20 posted on 05/31/2026 6:35:05 PM PDT by No name given ( Anonymous is who you’ll know me as )
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 5 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-22 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
Religion
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson