sb.scorecardresearch

Election Delhi 2025 in association with

Camlin

Published 17:15 IST, January 20th 2025

Pope Francis Slams Trump's Mass Deportation Plans as 'Disgrace'

Pope Francis called Trump’s mass deportation plans a “disgrace," and said he prayed America would live up to its ideals of being a “land of opportunity".

Reported by: Digital Desk
Follow: Google News Icon
  • share
Pope Calls Trump's Plans of Mass Deportation of Immigrants 'Disgrace'
Pope Calls Trump's Plans of Mass Deportation of Immigrants 'Disgrace' | Image: AP

Rome:  Pope Francis condemned Donald Trump’s mass deportation plans as a “disgrace,” revisiting his criticism of the incoming US president nearly a decade after calling him “not Christian” for proposing a wall at the US-Mexico border.

Francis made the comments during an appearance at an evening talk show, and then followed up Monday with an official telegram of congratulations to Trump on the day of his inauguration. Francis said he prayed that America would live up to its ideals of being a “land of opportunity and welcome for all.”

Pope Francis Expresses Concerns Over Trump’s Deportation Plan

“It is my hope that under your leadership the American people will prosper and always strive to build a more just society, where there is no room for hatred, discrimination or exclusion,” he wrote in the telegram.

History’s first Latin American pope was asked Sunday night about the Trump administration pledges of deportations during an appearance on a popular Italian talk show, Che Tempo Che Fa.

“If true, this will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill” for the problem, Francis said. 

“This won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved.” he added.

Trump, who is being sworn in on Monday, made mass deportations a signature issue of his campaign and has promised a raft of first-day orders to remake immigration policy.

During his first campaign for the presidency, in 2016, Francis was asked about Trump’s plans to build a wall along the US-Mexico border. Speaking after he celebrated Mass along the border, Francis famously said anyone who builds a wall to keep out migrants is “not Christian.”

US Bishops and Cardinals Oppose Deportation Policies

Many US bishops have firmly opposed Trump’s deportation plan, with the incoming archbishop of Washington D.C., Cardinal Robert McElroy, saying such policies were “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.” It was a reference to the Biblical call to “welcome the stranger.”

Another cardinal close to Francis, Chicago Cardinal Blasé Cupich, said the reports of mass deportations targeting the Chicago area “are not only profoundly disturbing but also wound us deeply.”

In a statement delivered from the Basilica of Our Lady of Guadalupe in Mexico City on Sunday, Cupich said governments have the responsibility to protect borders and communities.

“But we also are committed to defending the rights of all people, and protecting their human dignity,” according to the text of his statement.

Francis, who grew up in Argentina in a family of Italian immigrants, has long prioritized the plight of migrants and called for governments to welcome, protect and integrate them, within their means. He has said the dignity and rights of migrants trump any national security concerns.

(with agency inputs)

Updated 17:15 IST, January 20th 2025