Pope Leo
The Chicago-born pope was elected on May 8, making him the first American-born pope in the history of the Catholic Church. After a cautious start, Leo is now starting to voice his opinions, calling on Tuesday for people to “think deeply” about what has been happening to immigrants in the United States in recent months under President Donald Trump.
“Many people who have lived for years and years without ever getting into trouble are deeply affected by what is happening,” he told reporters outside the papal palace in Castel Gandolfo.
The pope, who spoke in English so he could reach his intended audience directly, pointed out that Christian teaching specifies that believers are judged by how they treat “foreigners.” He also urged authorities to respect the “spiritual rights” of people detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in his home state of Illinois. His remarks came in the wake of reports that priests and pastoral staff have been unable to bring Holy Communion to those detained.
This isn’t the first time Leo has spoken on this topic. He deplored the “inhumane” treatment of immigrants in the United States, but urged bishops in his home country to speak out. He also expressed concern about tensions between the United States and Canada and the United States and Venezuela.
The pope has a more reserved and formal style than his predecessor, but continues Francis’ priorities. On some level, Leo represents continuity with Francis, Latin America’s first pope, given that he spent decades in Peru as a missionary. He maintains close ties to the Peruvian people and remains a Peruvian national.
“The issues at the forefront of his mind seem to be poverty, immigration, climate change, and he’s a big champion of the project of synodality that Francis started, an effort to make the Catholic Church more inclusive and participatory,” Christopher White, author of “Pope Leo XIV: Inside the Synod and the Dawn of a New Papacy” and a senior fellow at Georgetown University in Washington, DC, told CNN.
White insists Leo is “not looking for a fight with Trump or anyone,” but said Leo has a “moral line” and is “particularly angry” about the treatment of immigrants.
Following Leo’s remarks on Tuesday, a White House spokesperson told Reuters that Trump was elected on a promise to deport “illegal aliens who have committed crimes” and that “he is keeping his promise to the American people.” The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said those detained by ICE are being held in humane conditions.
The American-born pope, an avid sports fan and native English speaker, is in some ways an unusual figure for the Vatican. Leo is a big Chicago White Sox fan, and on October 15, just days after the rival Chicago Cubs were eliminated from the playoffs, the pope went out to greet the crowd in St. Peter’s Square. “Go Cubs!” someone yelled. “They lost!” Leo yelled back from the Popemobile with a grin. Since winning, he has received a White Sox cap, baseball and NFL jersey.
In addition to sports equipment, he also received other memorabilia from his home. One time, while out in the Popemobile, Leo was handed a box of Chicago pizza by Aurelio’s, one of his regular visitors to one of his restaurants in Homewood, Illinois.
“He offered a strong and direct response to the Trump administration’s ‘inhumane treatment of immigrants,'” Kim Daniels, also director of Georgetown’s Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, told CNN.
He said Leo “hasn’t backed away” from speaking out about what’s happening in the United States, but he hasn’t made it “personal or political.” Daniels said Leo speaks “as a moral and spiritual leader and as someone with roots in both Chicago and Chiclayo (Peru).”
Massimo Fagioli, a church historian at Trinity College in Dublin and formerly based at Villanova University in Pennsylvania, said the pope’s intervention on immigration in recent weeks was important for U.S. Catholic leaders.
“He has stepped up his efforts to directly address issues,” he told CNN. “This is also part of the message of the U.S. bishops, so they will be encouraged by the message from the Pope.”
The U.S. bishops will meet in Baltimore from Nov. 10 to 13 to elect a new president and vice president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. Leo is expected to appoint a new New York archbishop in the coming months to replace Cardinal Timothy Dolan, who is retiring at age 75. The Pope called on U.S. bishops to have a “stronger and more united voice” on issues such as immigration, saying “the Church cannot be silent.”
While leaders such as Washington, D.C.’s Cardinal Robert McElroy and Chicago’s Cardinal Blaise Cupich have spoken out strongly on immigration, the upcoming elections and the pope’s appointments to the U.S. church hierarchy will be critical. During the Francis era, some bishops had resisted his policies and priorities, and some conservative Catholics had hoped Leo would signal a break with his predecessor.
But Fagioli argues that anyone who believes Leo will be an “anti-Francis or post-Francis pope” after the first six months is “deceiving themselves.” Like Francis, Leo has faced criticism from conservative U.S. Catholics and MAGA supporters outraged by his comments on immigration and climate change.
Leos are full and have a lot of big decisions to make. He is juggling a packed schedule of meetings and public events as the Catholic Church continues to celebrate its quarter-century Jubilee and the number of pilgrims visiting the Vatican increases.
Later this month, he will embark on his first foreign trip as a pope, visiting Turkey and Lebanon from November 27 to December 2, during which he is expected to emphasize peace in the Middle East.
Leo appeared almost overcome with emotion when he appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica in early May. But after spending the first few months getting used to his new role, America’s first pope is slowly coming into his own.
