Pope Leo XIV strongly supports US bishops' condemnation of Trump immigration raids: 'Extremely disrespectful'

Pope Leo XIV connected Tuesday powerfully affirmed U.S. bishops' connection condemning the Trump administration’s migration sweeps, calling connected Americans to perceive to the migrants and dainty them humanely and with dignity.

The pope was asked astir the "special message" the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted during their wide assembly past week successful Baltimore.

The bishops blasted President Donald Trump's wide deportation docket and the "vilification" of migrants, expressing interest implicit the fearfulness and anxiousness migration raids stoking successful communities, arsenic good arsenic the denial of pastoral attraction to migrants successful detention centers.

"We are disturbed erstwhile we spot among our radical a clime of fearfulness and anxiousness astir questions of profiling and migration enforcement," the bishops’ connection reads. "We are saddened by the authorities of modern statement and the vilification of immigrants. We are acrophobic astir the conditions successful detention centers and the deficiency of entree to pastoral care," reads the bishops' statement, which besides opposed "the indiscriminate wide deportation of people."

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Pope Leo XIV waves to the faithful aft a peculiar wide for the Jubilee of the poor, successful St. Peter's Square astatine The Vatican, Sunday, Nov.16, 2025. (AP)

Leo, the archetypal American pope, said helium appreciated the U.S. bishops' connection and encouraged Catholics and each radical of goodwill to perceive to dainty migrants with dignity, adjacent if they are successful the state illegally.

"I deliberation we person to look for ways of treating radical humanely, treating radical with the dignity that they have," Leo told reporters. "If radical are successful the United States illegally, determination are ways to dainty that. There are courts, there’s a strategy of justice."

The pope has antecedently urged section bishops to talk retired connected societal justness concerns. Catholic leaders person been criticizing Trump's wide deportation plan, arsenic fearfulness of migration raids has slashed Mass attendance astatine immoderate parishes.

Catholic leaders person been criticizing Trump's wide deportation plan, arsenic fearfulness of migration raids has slashed Mass attendance astatine immoderate parishes. (Brendan SMIALOWSKI / AFP/Getty Images)

The national authorities earlier this twelvemonth reversed a Biden medication directive prohibiting migration agents from carrying retired raids astatine delicate areas specified arsenic churches, schools and hospitals.

Leo acknowledged problems with the U.S. migration system, but helium emphasized that cipher has argued for the U.S. to person unfastened borders and that each state whitethorn take who tin participate and the methods to bash so.

"But erstwhile radical are surviving bully lives, and galore of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to dainty them successful a mode that is highly disrespectful to accidental the slightest — and there’s been immoderate unit unluckily — I deliberation that the bishops person been precise wide successful what they said," helium told reporters arsenic helium near the papal state location southbound of Rome.

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The pope said helium appreciated the U.S. bishops' connection and encouraged Catholics and each radical of goodwill to perceive to dainty migrants with dignity. (Getty Images)

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"I would conscionable invitation each radical successful the United States to perceive to them," Leo added.

The bishops' "special message" was the archetypal clip since 2013 they had drafted a single-issue connection astatine 1 of their meetings.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.