ROME—Pope Leo XIV, a Chicagoan and the first-ever U.S.-born Pope, has thrust himself into U.S. politics, strongly backing migrants worldwide, including those entering the U.S.
And in his Oct. 5 Sunday homily during the Holy Year, Leo added migrants shouldn’t be thrown out of the countries they migrate to—a direct contradiction to the massive and violent migrant expulsion policies of right-wing Republican President Donald Trump.
In his homily to more than 10,000 people gathered in the plaza in front of St. Peter’s Basilica, Leo put support for migrants in the context of returning the Catholic church to being a missionary religion, not just for priests, but for all:
“There are many missionary men and women, but also believers and people of goodwill, who work in the service of migrants, and promote a new culture of fraternity on the theme of migration, beyond stereotypes and prejudices,” Pope Leo said.
“This precious service involves each one of us, within the limits of our own means. As Pope Francis affirmed, this is the time for all of us to let ourselves be ‘permanently in a state of mission.’
The Pope called on Catholics to back the right of immigrants from the world’s southern regions to settle in places like the U.S. and Europe, and he called on them to engage with and support the immigrants when they settle in those places.
“In the communities of ancient Christian tradition, such as those of the West, the presence of many brothers and sisters from the world’s South should be welcomed as an opportunity, through an exchange that renews the face of the Church and sustains a Christianity that is more open, more alive and more dynamic.
“At the same time, all missionaries that depart for other lands are called to live with respect within the culture they encounter, directing to the good all that is found true and worthy, and bringing there the prophetic message of the Gospel.”
Pope Leo did that himself, serving for decades as a prelate in Peru. He became so fluent in Peruvian Spanish and so close to his congregants that he now holds dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Peru.
While serving as a cardinal there, Pope Leo also spoke out strongly for workers’ rights, New York-based Electrical Workers Local 3 reported upon hearing of Leo’s election to the papacy earlier this year.
“Right away, his name signified something very important to Catholics and workers around the world: His papacy would follow Catholic social teaching on labor and workers’ rights as set forth in Pope Leo XIII’s papal encyclical Rerum Novarum (On Capital and Labor),” promulgated in 1891, Local 3 said.
“That encyclical,” which forms the basis for Catholic Social Thought, “explains Catholic support for workers’ rights to collective bargaining and unions. At the time, Pope Leo XIII was responding to ‘revolutionary changes’ in unregulated capitalism that created an impoverished working class. Today, Pope Leo XIV sees artificial intelligence and the ‘digital revolution’ in a similar light.”
The Pope condemned anti abortionists who are also anti-immigrant.
In a Q&A in the week preceding his Oct. 5 homily, Pope Leo also criticized war-mongering politicians, and so-called “pro-lifers” who are, at the same time, pro-death penalty or anti-immigrant.
“Someone who says, ‘I am against abortion,’ but says, ‘I am in favor of the death penalty,’ is not really pro-life. Someone who says, ‘I am against abortion, but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life,” Leo said.
In the same Q&A, Leo waded into another long-running U.S. controversy: Over whether the church should deny blessings and honors to Catholic political figures who personally oppose abortion but who also refuse to impose that stand on the entire country.
Conservatives in the church hierarchy, many of them named by the late Pope John Paul II, say
Communion should be denied to such political figures, notably former Democratic President Joe Biden and former Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the 2004 Democratic presidential nominee.
The controversy arose again in late September when a Catholic organization in Pope Leo’s hometown, Chicago, decided to give a lifetime achievement award to retiring Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., the Senate Minority Whip. The group specifically honored his championing of immigrants.
Durbin is the prime congressional mover of legislation to permanently legalize the Dreamers, people brought to the U.S. illegally but as very young children, who have now grown up, are going to college, entering the workforce, and joining the military. Archbishop Blaise Cupich of Chicago agreed with the award to Durbin. The archbishop cited “the totality” of Durbin’s record of advocacy for migrants and the downtrodden.
Durbin is Catholic and, like Biden and Kerry, personally opposes abortion but refuses to impose that on the entire country. Ten bishops from around the U.S. objected to the award, and Durbin ultimately decided to forgo it.
Leo was also troubled by a speech by Trump’s War Secretary Pete Hegseth. The former Fox News commentator favors “overwhelming and punishing violence on the enemy,” and the department would “untie the hands of our warfighters to intimidate, demoralize, hunt, and kill the enemies of our country.” Leo called Hegseth’s speech—and his attitude towards war—“worrying.”
Hegseth’s speech, in turn, dovetailed with remarks by Hegseth’s boss, Trump, identifying the U.S. left as enemies.
The pope’s remarks also upset prominent conservative Catholic parishioners. They hoped Leo would abandon the progressivism of his outspoken predecessor, Francis I.
Francis repeatedly denounced the evils of unbridled capitalism and concentration of wealth and incomes, championed aiding migrants, and took a less-rigid stance on LGBTQ rights than the church’s official position of ostracism.
Right-wing political commentator Matt Walsh told one news service that Leo gave “a terrible answer” on pro-life issues. And pro-Trump social media “influencer” Jack Posobiec wrote on twitter/X that “Some popes are a blessing. Some popes are a penance.”
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