Gov. JB Pritzker and First Lady MK Pritzker met with Pope Leo XIV in Rome on Wednesday, where they discussed the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and the two formally invited the pope to visit Chicago, the governor’s office said.

“It was an honor for MK and me to meet with @Pontifex – a son of Illinois – to express the pride and reverence of the people of this great state,” Pritzker wrote on social media. “Pope Leo XIV’s message of hope, compassion, unity, and peace resonates with Illinoisans of all faiths and traditions.”

Leo, who was born Robert Prevost in Chicago and grew up in south suburban Dolton, discussed with Pritzker their shared concerns about the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement practices in Chicago, and pride in the people of Chicago for “speaking up,” Pritzker spokesperson Matt Hill said early Wednesday.

Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, helped arrange the meeting, Hill said. Anne Caprara, the governor’s chief of staff, also attended, according to Pritzker’s office.

Earlier this week, the pope backed U.S. bishops who condemned the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and urged Americans to treat migrants humanely, the Associated Press reported.

The Trump administration’s enforcement actions, which have been winding down in the Chicago area in recent days, received widespread criticism from neighborhood residents, local officials and local federal judges.

The administration has said the mass deportation was part of an effort to rid the nation of the “worst of the worst” of undocumented people in the country who both have a criminal record and lack proper documentation. But even as the Trump administration has highlighted some individuals who fit that description, records suggest that has rarely been the case.

Of 614 people whom the Trump administration identified as having been arrested in the Chicago area, just 16 had criminal histories that present a “high public safety risk,” according to a list of immigration arrests produced last week as part of an ongoing lawsuit.

Federal immigration agents in recent days have directed their attention to target Charlotte, N.C., following the operation in Chicago.

The meeting between Leo and the Pritzkers lasted about 40 minutes, according to the governor’s office.

The Pritzkers presented the pope with art and a letter from a woman incarcerated at Logan Correctional Center; a book about Abraham Lincoln; a pack of Burning Bush Brewery’s “Da Pope”-themed ale; and a copy of MK Pritzker’s own book about the Illinois governor’s mansion, the governor’s office said.

The governor, in an interview with NBC 5, said the pope was “optimistic” about returning back to visit Chicago.

“I expressed to him just how proud we are that he is a product of Chicago and that he’s perhaps more popular than Michael Jordan,” Pritzker said in the interview.