Pope Leo XIV has called for “deep reflection” on how migrants are treated in the United States, where he says many people have been deeply affected by the controversial mass deportation policy.
In one of his harshest criticisms to date of President Donald Trump’s administration, the first American-born pope also warned that the US bombing of Venezuelan ships suspected of transporting drugs risked increasing tensions in the region.
Addressing television cameras outside his papal residence in Castel Gandolfo and offering to answer “one or two questions,” Pope Leo XIV said there are people who have lived in the United States “for years and years without causing problems, who have been deeply affected” by Trump’s heavy-handed immigration policy.
Speaking in English and addressing the American public directly, he reiterated the Catholic belief that all Christians will ultimately be judged by how they welcomed the “stranger.”
“I was struck by how direct his reference was, because it obviously refers to the ICE raids,” Catholic historian Austen Ivereigh tells the BBC, referring to the body in charge of enforcing immigration laws in the United States.
“It’s very forceful.”
At first, after his election in May, Leo XIV’s comments on geopolitics were cautious.
But last month he used the word “inhumane” to refer to the Trump-led crackdown, shocking conservative Catholics in his own country who had enthusiastically embraced the “American pope.”
They saw Pope Leo XIV as an ally after the conflictive relationship with his predecessor, Francis, who once described Trump as “not a Christian” for building a wall on the border with Mexico.
“They are now realizing that Leo XIV is not going to change the teachings of the Church for them,” Ivereigh says. “They realize that it is very different from Francis in its style, but the teachings and priorities are the same. It is, to a large extent, a continuation.”
Born in Chicago, Pope Leo XIV—or Robert Prevost, as he was then known—spent much of his working life as a missionary in Peru, an experience that has also influenced his approach.
“I think it’s an issue that matters to him personally,” says Professor Anna Rowlands of Durham University. “He has lived in countries affected by these policies and he himself has been welcomed as a migrant. In reality, he was a migrant bishop.”
In his first major document, published last month, Pope Leo XIV revealed that issues of poverty and migration would remain at the center of his papacy. He emphasized that message at a recent meeting at the Vatican with American bishops.
“León offers a totally orthodox response” to migration, says Professor Rowlands, “bluntly”.
According to her, it is based on a Church tradition that dates back more than 100 years on this issue, which includes guaranteeing the rights of families to remain together and protecting their spiritual needs.
The pope himself underscored this last point when reporters asked him about an immigration center near Chicago where detainees have reportedly been prohibited from receiving communion. Many of the people affected by the ICE raids are Catholics, from American countries.
“I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of these people,” he said.
Bombings in the Caribbean
Regarding Venezuela and the Trump Administration’s policy of attacking ships and killing crew members, the pope called for dialogue and calm.
“I believe that with violence we will not win,” he said in Italian.
He suggested that the deployment of US Navy ships near Venezuela was increasing tension rather than helping to “defend peace.”
Six months after his surprising appointment, the contours of Pope Leo
“When the pope expresses himself so forcefully, it puts pressure on the US Administration, especially those who identify as Catholic,” says Iverleigh.
“So far, León has avoided becoming embroiled in the entire Trump machine. Perhaps now he is taking that risk.”
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