Pope Leo affords his strongest criticism of Trump but

[ad_1] Sarah Rainsford Southern and Jap Europe correspondent, Rome

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/65a6/live/589b0850-ba84-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp" loading="eager" alt="Getty Images Pope Leo XIV delivers his speech to the faithful during the Wednesday General Audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican on November 5, 2025. He is wearing his traditional white robe and is sitting on a cream-coloured chair. Behind him is a blurred background of an ornate facade at St Peter's Square." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Photos Pope Leo was elected earlier this 12 months. He initially hails from Chicago, and is the primary American Pope in historical past.

Pope Leo has referred to as for "deep reflection" on how migrants are handled in the USA, the place he stated many individuals had been deeply affected by the controversial coverage of mass deportation.

In a few of his strongest criticism up to now of President Donald Trump's administration, the primary ever US-born pope additionally warned that the US bombing of Venezuelan ships, suspected of carrying medication, risked rising tensions within the area.

Rising to handle a financial institution of TV cameras exterior his papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo and providing to reply "one or two questions", Pope Leo XIV stated there have been individuals who have lived within the US "for years and years by no means inflicting issues, who've been deeply affected" by Trump's hardline coverage on migration.

Talking in English, and reaching a US viewers instantly, he reiterated the Catholic perception that each Christian will finally be judged on how they welcomed "the foreigner".

"I used to be struck by how direct his reference was as a result of he is clearly speaking in regards to the ICE round-ups," Catholic historian Austen Ivereigh instructed the BBC, referring to the immigration enforcement physique within the US.

"It is very sturdy."

Initially, after his election in Could, Leo's feedback on geopolitics had been cautious. Then final month he used the phrase "inhuman" in reference to the Trump-led crackdown, shaking conservative Catholics in his personal nation who had embraced the "American Pope".

They'd seen Pope Leo as an ally after a fractious relationship together with his predecessor, Francis, who as soon as described Trump as "not Christian" for constructing a wall on the border with Mexico.

"Now they're waking as much as the truth that Leo is not going to alter church educating for his or her sake," Mr Ivereigh stated. "They realise that he is very totally different from Francis in his fashion, however it's the identical educating and priorities. He is very a lot a continuation."

<img sizes="(min-width: 1280px) 50vw, (min-width: 1008px) 66vw, 96vw" srcset="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/240/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 240w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/320/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 320w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 480w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/640/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 640w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/800/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 800w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1024/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 1024w,https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/1536/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp 1536w" src="https://ichef.bbci.co.uk/news/480/cpsprodpb/4aad/live/a0c6df90-ba85-11f0-98a7-ed301ba6f979.jpg.webp" loading="lazy" alt="Getty Images Pope Leo XIV meets with US vice President JD Vance and US State Secretary Marco Rubio, on May 19, 2025 in Vatican City, Vatican. The two are seated opposite of him, with the Pope's desk separating them. The Pope is wearing his traditional white robe, and Rubio and Vance are in suits." class="sc-5340b511-0 hLdNfA"/> Getty Photos Pope Leo has met with Catholic members of the Trump administration earlier this 12 months, specifically vice chairman JD Vance and secretary of state Marco Rubio.

Born in Chicago, Pope Leo – or Robert Prevost as he was then – spent a lot of his working life as a missionary in Peru, an expertise that has additionally formed his method.

"I believe this is a matter that issues to him personally," Professor Anna Rowlands of Durham College stated. "He has lived in nations affected by these insurance policies, and been welcomed himself as a migrant. He was in impact a migrant bishop."

In his first main doc, printed final month, Pope Leo revealed that the problems of poverty and migration would stay on the coronary heart of his papacy. He careworn that message at a current assembly within the Vatican with US bishops.

"Leo affords a wholly orthodox response" to migration, Prof Rowlands identified, "straight down the road."

He's, she stated, citing a church custom stretching again greater than 100 years on the problem, that features making certain the rights of households to stay collectively and defending their non secular wants.

The Pope underlined that final level himself when journalists requested about an immigration facility close to Chicago the place detainees have reportedly been barred from receiving communion. Many individuals focused within the ICE raids are Catholic, from the Americas.

"I would definitely invite the authorities to permit pastoral staff to take care of the wants of these individuals," he stated.

On Venezuela, and the Trump administration's coverage of concentrating on ships and killing crew members, the Pope referred to as for dialogue and calm.

"I believe that with violence we can't win," he stated in Italian.

He urged that the deployment of US Navy vessels near Venezuela was rising pressure reasonably than working to "defend the peace."

Six months on from his shock election, the contours of Pope Leo's papacy have gotten clearer and his behavior of visiting Castel Gandolfo, shunned by Francis, has additionally introduced new transparency: For years, journalists have needed to anticipate a papal journey overseas to get wherever close to the pinnacle of the church and put their questions.

"When the Pope speaks very positively like this, it does put stress on the US administration – significantly those that establish as Catholics," Mr Iverleigh stated.