Chicago mayor sees Pope Leo XIV as key ally on social justice, migration after Vatican meeting

ROME (AP) — Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson cast Pope Leo XIV as a powerful global ally on social justice, migration and reparations after meeting the Chicago-born pontiff at the Vatican, saying their shared roots and priorities could help amplify efforts to protect vulnerable communities.

“As the mayor of Chicago, we are incredibly elated and proud of him,” Johnson told The Associated Press in an interview Friday, a day after meeting the American pope in a private audience.

The mayor said it was comforting to know that someone who comes from the city of Chicago "can speak to justice” and defend “the most vulnerable among us.”

Johnson, a first-term progressive Democrat leading the third-largest U.S. city, traveled to Rome with a delegation of some 50 local officials, drawing strong media interest. He is a leading critic of U.S. President Donald Trump and has applauded Leo for pushing back against the war in Iran and Trump administration immigration policies.

Johnson said he used the meeting to thank the pope “for his courage and his strength and particularly his moral stance,” framing the encounter as a convergence of civic leadership and moral authority.

He noted the meeting underscored areas of alignment between Chicago’s policy agenda and the pope’s emphasis on social justice, particularly on the legacy of slavery and the treatment of migrants.

Johnson said the pontiff’s apology for the Catholic Church’s role in slavery reinforced his administration’s push for reparations, including efforts to fund a task force examining the lasting impact on Black Americans.

“The fact that the pope made a very clear declaration apologizing for the church’s role in slavery … is an affirmation to the work that we’re doing,” he said.

Johnson stressed the visit reflects an effort to position Chicago within a broader international push for human rights, with the pope’s global influence lending weight to the city’s agenda on justice, migration and reparative policies — and potentially extending that message well beyond the U.S.

Migration was also central to their discussion. Johnson said Pope Leo asked directly about conditions in Chicago following a broader U.S. immigration crackdown and efforts to deport migrants.

“He wanted to know the conditions on the ground in Chicago … how we were responding,” Johnson said, adding the pontiff was aware of “the mass effort to deport immigrants from the city of Chicago and really around the country.”

Johnson described outlining the city’s response to migrants facing fear and uncertainty, including rapid-response efforts to ensure families had access to schools and basic necessities. He also highlighted executive actions intended to shield migrants, saying Chicago’s approach has been adopted by other municipalities.

Johnson framed the meeting as the beginning of broader cooperation between city government and the Vatican. “We talked about how his pulpit and my pen can come together to protect all of humanity,” he said, referencing both descendants of enslaved people and immigrant communities.

The mayor also emphasized the shared Chicago background, saying the city’s history of activism makes it “uniquely positioned for this moment.” On Thursday, he marked the visit by presenting Leo with a key to the city and inviting him to celebrate Mass in Chicago’s Grant Park.

It’s at least the second official invitation that Leo has received to visit the United States. U.S. Vice President JD Vance invited Leo soon after he became pope last May.

Associated Press writer Silvia Stellacci in Rome contributed to this report.

Chicago's Mayor Brandon Johnson attends a press briefing in Rome, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

Chicago's Mayor Brandon Johnson attends an interview in a cafe in Rome Friday, May 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Alessandra Tarantino)

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Kenyan police arrested eight female students on suspicion of arson, authorities said Friday, after a fire destroyed a dormitory at a boarding school, killing 16 children and injuring dozens of others. The motive remains under investigation.

The girls were arrested for planning and carrying out a suspected arson attack at Utumishi Girls School in central Kenya, according to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations, or DCI, a department of the national police.

In addition to the deaths, the blaze on Thursday morning left 79 others injured. Police spent the whole day Thursday questioning 30 students at the school and asked their parents to head home without the girls and come back on Friday morning.

“Investigators have conducted extensive interviews with students, teaching staff and other witnesses, while forensic teams carry out a detailed review of available CCTV footage,” DCI spokesperson John Marete said in a statement.

Education Minister Julius Ogamba said Friday the school's board of management had been dissolved and the principal would face disciplinary action for failing to comply with the safety manual.

“In particular, there was congestion in the dormitory and one exit door was locked, contrary to the prescribed safety requirements,” he said.

Two teachers who were aware of planned unrest that may have led to the suspected arson will also face disciplinary action.

On Friday morning, parents remained in limbo at the school with no clear information on when the rest of the students would be released.

“We have not even been told about the eight that police have arrested,” a parent, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of fear that her daughter could be victimized, told The Associated Press. “We are just here and no one is giving us any information,”

At the Naivasha hospital morgue, 28 kilometers (8 miles) from the school, anxious parents waited for DNA tests to identify their children.

A distraught father, John Muiruri, said they were being given conflicting information about the location of the bodies.

“They have just been doing some sideshows, trying to prevent us from knowing the truth but the reality we have come to know is that we have lost our children. We have come to terms with reality. What we want to know is where are the remains of our daughters,” he said.

The motive of the arson attack wasn’t yet known.

“Detectives continue to record statements and analyze all available evidence to reconstruct the sequence of events, establish the full circumstances of the incident and determine the motive,” Marete said in a statement.

The bodies of the 16 students were taken to a government hospital morgue on Thursday, and were undergoing DNA testing to ascertain their identities.

Fires at schools have long been a cause of concern for education officials in East Africa, where classrooms and dormitories are often crowded, and there’s usually no firefighting equipment in place. The fires are sometimes attributed to electrical faults but are also sometimes caused by students burning down schools because of disciplinary issues.

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Associated Press journalist Zelipha Kirobi contributed from Gilgil, Kenya.

An injured student is evacuated following an early morning fire outbreak at Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)

Red Cross members recover the bodies of students who died in the fire at the Utumishi Girls School in the Gilgil area, central Kenya, Thursday, May 28, 2026. (AP Photo/Andrew Kasuku)