Pope Leo XIV has offered his strongest rebuke yet of the Trump administration as he called for ‘deep reflection’ on America’s treatment of migrants.
The world’s first American pope made a rare public appearance on Tuesday, when he was asked about claims that Catholic priests, nuns and other clergy attempting to bring Eucharist to migrants at the Chicago-area Broadview ICE facility were barred entry over the weekend.
Pope Leo, who hails from Chicago himself, then urged authorities to permit the pastoral workers access to the detained migrants, arguing that they have been separated from their families and face uncertainty about their futures.
‘Their own spiritual needs should be attended to,’ the pope said, according to the National Catholic Reporter.
He then went on to cite the Bible as he scolded the Trump administration.
‘We’re going to be asked, you know, “How do you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not?”‘ the pope said, speaking in English for the American audience, CBS reports.
‘And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening,’ he continued, arguing that ‘many people who’ve lived for years and years and years [in the United States], never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now.’
The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership in Chicago, which has been appealing to local and federal authorities to let spiritual leaders provide sacraments to the detained migrants, praised the pope’s remarks.
Pope Leo XIV, who hails from Chicago, urged federal authorities to permit pastoral workers access to the detained migrants, arguing that they have been separated from their families and face uncertainty about their futures
The pope had been asked about claims that Catholic priests, nuns and other clergy attempting to bring Eucharist to migrants at the Chicago-area Broadview ICE facility were barred entry over the weekend. Police are pictured at a demonstration outside the facility on October 10
He then slammed the United States’ treatment of migrants
‘We’re deeply grateful to Pope Leo XIV for raising his voice in defense of the detained and affirming their right to spiritual care,’ the group said in a statement.
‘His leadership gives us strength to keep pressing until the doors of this facility in Broadview are opened.’
But Department of Homeland Security Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs Tricia McLaughlin claimed the reason the clergy are not allowed to enter the Broadview facility is because it is ‘a field office, it is not a detention facility.’
‘Religious organizations are more than welcome to provide services to detainees in ICE detention facilities,’ she told Axios.
‘ICE staff has repeatedly informed religious organizations that due to Broadview’s status as a field office and the ongoing threat to civilians, detainees and officers… they are not able to accommodate these requests at this time.’
Still, the pontiff’s comments marked his strongest admonishment of the Trump administration since he took the papal seat in May.
‘I was struck by how direct his reference was because he’s obviously talking about the ICE roundups,’ Catholic historian Austen Ivereigh told the BBC.
‘It’s very strong.’
He added that the pope’s remarks are going to ‘put pressure’ on the Trump administration, especially for those who ‘identify as Catholic.’
Experts say the pope’s remarks are going to ‘put pressure’ on the Trump administration, especially for those who ‘identify as Catholic’
The comments marked the new pope’s sharpest criticism yet of the Trump administration
‘So far, Leo’s avoided getting entangled int heh whole Trump machine,’ Ivereigh said. ‘Maybe he’s taking that risk now.’
It seemed at first that the pope was staying out of geopolitics, but then last month he used the word ‘inhuman’ in reference to the Trump-led migrant crackdown.
He also stressed that the issues of poverty and migration would remain at the heart of his papacy in his first major document last month.
‘I think this is an issue that matters to him personally,’ Professor Anna Rowlands of Durham University said.
‘He has lived in countries affected by these policies and had been welcomed himself as a migrant. He was in effect a migrant bishop.’
The pope also hit out at the president’s policy of targeting ships allegedly carrying drug cartels.
‘I think that with violence, we won’t win,’ Leo XIV said, suggesting that the deployment of US Navy vessels near Venezuela was actually increasing tensions in the area rather than working to ‘defend the peace.’
Taken together, these remarks showed American Catholics that Pope Leo is going to continue in the footsteps of his predecessor, Francis – who once called Trump ‘not Christian’ for building a wall on the southern border – despite his American origins.
‘Now they’re waking up to the fact that Leo isn’t going to change Church teachings or their sake,’ Ivereigh said.
‘They realize that he’s very different from Francis in his style, but it’s the same teaching and priorities.
‘He’s very much a continuation.’
