Pope Leo XIV reaffirms the Catholic Church’s position on only two genders and marriage as a union between a man and a woman. Photo courtesy of Vatican Media.

Pope Leo XIV continues to make thinly veiled jibes against the Trump administration’s stance against illegal immigration.

Speaking in front of thousands of pilgrims at St. Peter’s Square on Sunday, Leo warned that migrants must not be treated with “the coldness of indifference or the stigma of discrimination.”

Without singling out any country in particular, Leo said that Catholics should “open our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope.”

Leo explained that the church was living through a “new missionary age” that tasked its members with providing “hospitality and welcome, compassion and solidarity” to migrants coming to the West.

“In the communities of ancient Christian tradition, such as those of the West, the presence of many brothers and sisters from the world’s South should be welcomed as an opportunity, through an exchange that renews the face of the Church,” he said, according to Reuters.

He did not differentiate between legal and illegal migration, nor make any reference to the countless numbers of migrants who have already migrated to the West, many of whom do not share the Christian faith.

Leo’s remarks come days after he appeared to criticize the Trump administration’s pro-life position in the context of the policy of mass deportation.

“Someone who says I’m against abortion but says I’m in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” he explained.

”So someone who says, I’m against abortion, but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt rejected his suggestions.

“I would reject that there is inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration,” she responded.

“There was, however, significant, inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the previous administration as they were being trafficked and raped and beaten, in many cases killed over our United States southern border.”

NBC’s @GabeGutierrez: “Senator Dick Durbin — he was set to receive a lifetime achievement award from the Catholic Church, and since declined accepting it because there has been some controversy. Pope Leo commented on this, and he said that ‘someone who says I’m against abortion,… pic.twitter.com/cUkGaRqUS6

— Curtis Houck (@CurtisHouck) October 1, 2025

The pontiff, who was elected back in May following the passing of his left-wing predecessor Pope Francis, has been flexing his liberal credentials in other ways.

Just this week, he blessed a block of ice as part of a ritual against so-called climate change, accusing Trump and the GOP of “ridiculing those who speak of global warming.”

Woke Pope Leo XIV Blesses a Block of Ice as Climate Activists Perform ‘Earth-Worshipping Ritual’ (VIDEO)

Ben Kew is a writer and editor. Originally from the UK, he moved to the U.S. to cover Congress for Breitbart News and has since gone on to editorial roles at Human Events, Townhall Media, and Americano Media. He has also written for The Epoch Times, The Western Journal, and The Spectator.

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