Pope Francis scolded President Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation efforts in a letter to the American Catholic bishops this week — saying Trump’s campaign promise “will end badly.”
“The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality,” Pope Francis wrote in an open letter that was made public Tuesday.
He added: “What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.”
Pope Francis has been sharply critical of the president’s immigration push since his first term. Before Trump’s inauguration, Pope Francis called his pledge to deport millions of undocumented immigrants a “disgrace.”
In 2016, Pope Francis, who is the first Latin American pope, slammed Trump over his proposal to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, saying Trump was “not Christian.” However, the pair seemingly worked out their differences during Trump’s visit to the Vatican in 2017, which Trump called him “fantastic.”
But the start of the second term has been bumpy. Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, alleged that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling undocumented immigrants in exchange for federal funds. Trump also hinted at reigniting tensions with the Vatican when he tapped Brian Burch, who is head of the group Catholic Vote and a Pope Francis critic, as ambassador to the Holy See in December.
Pope Francis’ letter also urged American bishops to not buy into Trump’s criticism of undocumented immigrants, and instead, advocate for their rights and protections.
“I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters,” he said.
Tom Homan, Trump’s border czar, blasted Pope Francis’ remarks in an interview on Newsmax Tuesday morning.
“Stick to the Catholic Church. Leave border enforcement to us,” Homan said.
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