Pope receives letters from ICE detainees, pastoral workers in Chicago October 30, 2026By Carol Glatz OSV News Filed Under: Feature, Immigration and Migration, News, World News VATICAN CITY (CNS) — Pope Leo XIV received letters and messages from individuals detained in a United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) processing facility near Chicago and from Catholics active in providing immigrants and refugees with spiritual and pastoral support. Members of the Chicago-based Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership gave him an album containing the items when they met with the pope and at the end of the pope’s weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Square Oct. 28. “The pope looked visibly moved” while listening to the testimony of Abigail Ortiz Valles, a Scalabrinian laywoman who takes part in the coalition’s ministry at the Broadview ICE facility near Chicago, according to the group’s Facebook page. The gift, the Oct. 29 post said, “was a handmade album of photos from our actions of the past year, showered with messages of love, support, and hope from members across our coalition and also from our siblings who are detained in Broadview.” Ortiz told the pope their “ministry feels like encountering the face and Passion of Jesus every time she goes in.” About 30 people were part of the delegation greeting the pope; the group included Chicago Auxiliary Bishop José María Garcia-Maldonado and Franciscan Father Richard Rohr. Many wore yellow T-shirts depicting an image of Our Lady of Guadalupe with her right fist held aloft and a verse about God casting down the mighty and lifting up the lowly from Mary’s Magnificat in Lk 1:46-55. They also held a banner saying, “The Church … needs a holy rebellion,” a quote from the pope in July urging young people to serve others. Since immigration enforcement operations started in March 2025, thousands of priests, religious men and women, and laypeople have mobilized. Many more joined protests and calls to activism after the heavily militarized and more controversial “Operation Midway Blitz” was launched by ICE to raid targeted locations and arrest and detain people reported to be illegal immigrants. “We are bringing visibility to our sisters and brothers being brutally kidnapped, detained, and deported. We are fighting to protect the religious freedom and dignity of immigrant individuals,” the coalition said on its website. The coalition takes part in a variety of events outside the facility, including celebrating Mass and leading Eucharistic processions, as well as conducting pastoral visits inside the ICE facility. Coalition members had been denied access to the ICE processing center when “Operation Midway Blitz” began in September 2025, but they were allowed to return to provide hundreds of detainees pastoral care after suing the U.S. government and obtaining an injunction. Read more immigration and migration Pope Leo sends special message of support to interfaith immigration policy summit Court allows multifaith challenge of Trump administration policy to permit ICE arrests at churches Giving immigrants a face by sharing stories Haitian Catholics in Philly mark 50 years of faith, despite immigration crackdown Ministry of accompaniment offers loving presence to immigrants facing hearings, ICE check-ins Trump administration extends TPS for Ukraine, Sudan, but uncertainty remains Copyright © 2026 OSV News Print
