Pope Leo XIV addressed US politics on Tuesday, voicing concern over President Trump's rhetoric and challenging self-described pro-life advocates to reject both harsh immigration policies and the death penalty—drawing pushback from the White House. Speaking in Italy after the meeting of American military brass in Virginia, at which Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth gave what Leo described as concerning and tension-raising speeches, the pope suggested the aggressive language seemed designed to project strength but risked raising the stakes unnecessarily. "Let's hope it's just a figure of speech," Leo said of "going from minister of defense to minister of war," the Washington Post reports.
Leo told reporters that there's more to being pro-life than opposing abortion—that the death penalty and the harsh treatment of migrants are equally at odds with church teaching. "They're very complex issues," he said, urging a broader, more respectful discussion on what it means to be pro-life. "Someone who says, 'I am against abortion,' but says, 'I am in favor of the death penalty,' is not really pro-life," he said. "Someone who says that, 'I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants who are in the United States,' I don't know if that's pro-life." Italian journalist Marco Politi said the remarks were the pope's "sharpest criticism" so far of the "Trumpist ideology," the Post reports, though he noted that Leo also praised Trump's Gaza peace plan.
On Wednesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she "would reject there was inhumane treatment of illegal immigrants in the United States under this administration," per Politico. Without mentioning the pope, Leavitt, who is Catholic, said, "This administration is trying to enforce our nation's laws in the most humane way possible."
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The pope had been asked about the archbishop of Chicago's decision to honor retiring Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, who favors abortion rights, for his work on behalf of immigrants. After a backlash among bishops, per Politico, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich announced that Durbin decided not to accept the lifetime achievement award. Speaking in English, per the Post, the Chicago-born pope said that he was "not terribly familiar with the particular case" but considers it "very important to look at the overall work a senator has done during, if I am not mistaken, 40 years of service in the United States Senate." Durbin has been in Congress more than four decades, 28 as a senator, and is leaving office in January, when his term ends.
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