Pope Leo XIV is defending the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ message opposing what he characterized as the “extremely disrespectful” treatment of illegal immigrants being deported by the Trump administration. His comments come as border czar Tom Homan continues to defend the federal government’s actions and reiterate earlier allegations of hypocrisy by the Catholic Church.
In response to reporters seeking his comment on the USCCB’s “Special Message” on immigration Tuesday, the pontiff said, “We have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.”
“If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts; there’s a system of justice. I think there are a lot of problems in the system. No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” he stressed.
At the same time, Leo shared his reservations about what he called the “extremely disrespectful” treatment of illegal immigrants who “are living good lives and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years” in the U.S.
The message at the center of Leo’s comments, issued at the USCCB’s Plenary Assembly in Baltimore, Maryland, last week, condemned what the bishops referred to as “a climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement.” The bishops overwhelmingly approved the message, with 216 votes in favor of it, five against, and three abstentions.
The statement reads in part: “We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants. We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care. We lament that some immigrants in the United States have arbitrarily lost their legal status. We are troubled by threats against the sanctity of houses of worship and the special nature of hospitals and schools.”
The bishops also described themselves as “grieved when we meet parents who fear being detained when taking their children to school and when we try to console family members who have already been separated from their loved ones.”
“We recognize that nations have a responsibility to regulate their borders and establish a just and orderly immigration system for the sake of the common good,” they continued. “Without such process, immigrants face the risk of trafficking and other forms of exploitation. Safe and legal pathways serve as an antidote to such risks.”
The message concluded with the bishops expressing opposition to the “indiscriminate mass deportation of people” and a prayer for “an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence, whether directed at immigrants or law enforcement.”
While the bishops’ message was received favorably by the pontiff, Tom Homan, who serves as President Donald Trump’s border czar, had a different take in remarks given to the press outside the White House last Friday, where he declared: “The Catholic Church is wrong.”
Identifying himself as a “lifelong Catholic,” Homan maintained that the Catholic bishops need to “spend time fixing the Catholic Church” rather than advocating against the Trump administration’s immigration policies. Homan also echoed his previous analysis, accusing the Catholic Church of hypocrisy in light of the Vatican’s immigration policies, noting that “the penalties for entering their facilities are much worse than ours.”
“A secure border saves lives. I wish the Catholic Church would understand that,” he said. “We have a right to secure borders like they have the right to secure their facilities.”
Homan warned that embracing the immigration policy proposed by the Catholic bishops would have negative consequences for national security: “According to them, the message we should send to the whole world is that if you cross the border illegally, which is a crime, don’t worry about it. If you get ordered removed by a federal judge, that’s due process, don’t worry about it because there shouldn’t be mass deportations.”
Homan defended Immigration and Customs Enforcement for sending a different “message to the whole world,” specifically, “Don’t give your life savings to come to the country because you’re not going to be released.”
The USCCB’s message on immigration and the pope’s comments on it do not constitute the first example of high-ranking Catholic Church officials speaking out about the Trump administration’s immigration policies.
In addition to Pope Francis’ condemnation of mass deportations earlier this year, which prompted Homan to bring up the “wall around the Vatican,” several Catholic bishops in the U.S. have excused illegal immigrants from the obligation to attend Sunday mass due to concerns that they will be deported.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
