Topline
Pope Leo has criticized the treatment of migrants held in detention in the United States, specifically expressing concerns about their “spiritual rights” after reports they’d been denied access to Communion, the latest flashpoint amid growing tensions between the Vatican and the Trump White House in recent months.
Pope Leo XIV in St. Peter’s Square on Nov. 05, 2025 in Vatican City.
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Key Facts
Pope Leo XIV, the first American ever chosen to lead the Catholic church, on Tuesday called for faith leaders to be given access to the facilities detaining migrants after reports emerged those being held at the Broadview immigration site in Illinois were denied Communion on All Saints Day and Día de los Muertos last weekend.
The Pope quoted scripture, reiterated that migrants’ “spiritual needs should be attended to” and called for “deep reflection about what is happening” in the United States.
The comments were the latest to contribute to growing tension between the Vatican and the Trump administration, specifically about the president’s harsh enforcement of immigration policies.
Pope Leo in September suggested that people who support the “inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States” may not be “pro life,” to which White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt responded the Trump administration was “trying to enforce our nation’s laws in the most humane way possible.”
One week later, the Pope met with a group of Catholics from El Paso, Texas, who have said they are scared to go to Mass for fear of being arrested by ICE agents, telling them he stands with them and that it was important the Catholic church speak “forcefully and in unity” about the issue of immigration enforcement.
The Trump White House had a long history of clashes with the late Pope Francis before his death in April, which came to a head when the pope sent a letter to American bishops in February denouncing Trump’s mass deportation agenda and slamming Vance’s understanding of a theological concept called “ordo amoris,” or “rightly-ordered love.”
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Crucial Quote
“How did you receive the foreigner, did you receive him and welcome him, or not?” Pope Leo said Tuesday. “I think there is a deep reflection that needs to be made about what is happening.”
Surprising Fact
Christopher Hale, a Democratic Catholic activist who runs a popular Substack called Letters from Leo, said he reached out to a White House spokesperson for comment on the recent criticism and was told, “the pope doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” Vance asked Hale on X which White House spokesperson gave him the comment, but Hale hadn’t responded as of Wednesday morning. The White House press office has increasingly trolled questions from the press, last month responding to a question from Forbes with a meme from the movie “Top Gun.” Last month, Leavitt responded to a question about who chose Budapest as the place for a meeting between Trump and Vladimir Putin with “Your mom did.” On social media, official White House accounts have posted deportation cartoons and doctored images of headlines.
Key Background
Pope Francis started criticizing Trump during his first campaign for the presidency in 2016, speaking out against Trump’s proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border and questioning his faith: “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.” Trump responded by calling the Vatican the “ultimate trophy” of the terrorist organization ISIS. Pope Francis went on to criticize Trump’s moves against the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program and his mass deportation plans, calling them an attack on the “equal dignity of every human being.” On the day before he died, Pope Francis advocated for migrants in his Easter Sunday address.