The letter of Pope Francis condemning the “mass deportations” of the Trump administration was direct and pointed. Addressed to the bishops of the United States, the Holy Father wrote that “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.”

That is a direct refutation of the Trump administration policy that being in the United States illegally makes one, ipso facto, a criminal. That is a disputed matter, as not everything illegal is criminal.

There are several noteworthy aspects to the letter, dated Feb. 10, 2025, and released the following day.

John Paul on Cairo and Iraq

It is unusual for a pope to directly attack a particular policy of a particular government, especially a democracy. The norm is to appeal to principles, which may make the application clear but unstated. 

For example, while Pope Francis is vehement when he speaks on abortion (“hiring an assassin”) and transgenderism (“ugliest ideology of our time”), he does not usually direct his comments to a specific policy of a specific government.

Pope St. John Paul did clash with the Clinton administration leading up to the U.N. Conference on Population and Development in Cairo. He led a sustained campaign in the summer of 1994 against U.S. proposals to make abortion an international human right. At one point, Vatican spokesman Joaquin Navarro-Valls accused Vice President Al Gore, by name, of being dishonest about the administration’s abortion advocacy.

In 2002 and 2003, Pope John Paul spoke frequently against the Iraq War. It was clear that he opposed the Bush administration policy, but the manner and form of his comments were somewhat restrained.

Not so Pope Francis this week. It was not a spokesman, but the Pope himself, and his letter was drafted in the form customary for more solemn documents. It referred directly to the signature policy of the Trump administration as a “major crisis.” Vatican observers who called the letter “unprecedented” were not wrong.

Pope Pius XII and Catholic Tradition

Pope Francis deliberately cited a document rarely mentioned now, the apostolic constitution of Venerable Pius XII from 1952, Exsul Familia. That document established structures for the spiritual care of migrants at a time when huge numbers of people were moving within and without postwar Europe. 

Pope Francis quoted Pius XII, that “the family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country.”

The lengthy letter of Pius XII rehearses a long history of care for the migrant in Catholic teaching, going back to St. Ambrose and St. Augustine. Pius, referring to Pope Leo XIII, spoke explicitly of “the right of people to migrate, which right is founded in the very nature of land” (99-100). Pius grounded this right in the natural law, which is morally binding on all, not specifically in divine Revelation.

Citing the comprehensive letter of Pius XII was a clear response to those who think the Church’s approach to immigration is a post-conciliar eruption of fashionable globalist thinking.

Rhetoric or Policy?

The Trump administration is masterful at incendiary rhetoric and symbolic action, but policy implementation is a separate matter. 

While the Department of Homeland Security trumpeted the deportation of “7,300 illegal aliens” in the first week of the new administration, that number would mean, if continued every week for four years, only 1.5 million deportations, far short of what President Donald Trump has promised. On the current trend, Trump would deport fewer immigrants than his predecessors.

There are reports that the president knows this and is “angry” that the pace is not quicker. It would prove embarrassing to him if his Democratic predecessors deported more illegal immigrants that he did, in his first term or now.

President Barack Obama was criticized by immigration activists for being the “deporter-in-chief” and the Biden administration ramped up deportations during the pandemic as well as in the final six months of President Joe Biden’s term.

So why, then, the “major crisis” that Pope Francis spoke about in his letter? To this point, it is the rhetoric, rather than the reality, of deportations that has changed.

An Open Heart Not an Open Border

Pope Francis inveighs against a closing of the heart to immigrants, a denigration of their dignity and the political exploitation of their plight. It is the closing of the heart that he condemns. While Pope Francis is often accused of favoring completely open borders, he does not. 

“One must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival,” Pope Francis wrote to the U.S. bishops. “The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all — as I have affirmed on numerous occasions — welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable. This does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration.”

The reference to “integration” is key and merits recalling the papal comments upon his return from Sweden in 2016, in the final days of Trump’s first campaign for president.

“I think that, in theory, hearts must not be closed to refugees, but those who govern need prudence,” Pope Francis said. “They must be very open to receiving refugees, but they also have to calculate how best to settle them, because refugees must not only be accepted, but also integrated. Consequently, if a country has, say, the ability to integrate 20 persons, they should do this. Another country that has greater capacity should do more. But always with an open heart: It is not human to close the door, it is not human to close the heart, and in the long run, a price is paid for this.”

At the crux of the Holy Father’s pro-migrant approach is that of a heart open to the afflicted, even if prudence means limiting migration for reasons of practical integration. 

This, then, is the fundamental clash with President Trump, who usually speaks of immigration with a harshness and hostility that does not manifest an open heart, even if he does acknowledge that there are good immigrants. It has been that way since 2015.

“When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best,” he said in his announcement for the presidency. “They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”

Vice President JD Vance and the Ordo Amoris

The Holy Father’s letter directly addresses the recent comments by Vice President JD Vance, a Catholic, that the Trump administration’s policies reflect Thomistic teaching on the ordo amoris — order of loves. A debate followed those comments, with Vance’s defenders arguing that it was “common sense” that we love those close to us — our family, our fellow citizens — more than those more distant. 

Vance’s critics answered that the Parable of the Good Samaritan teaches that the stranger, the foreigner, is our “neighbor” worthy of compassion and love. In his letter, Pope Francis definitively takes the side of the Good Samaritan approach.

“The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Luke 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception,” he wrote.

Again, the conflict between the Holy Father and Vance is likely more about language than theology. It is difficult to hear in the Trump-Vance rhetoric love for the immigrant, whether properly ordered or not. Francis insists that even those refused entry, or returned, are to be treated with dignity and fit within the ordo amoris.

The decision to address the Vance comments is likely due to his remarkably hostile accusation that the U.S. bishops’ refugee programs — under contract with the U.S. government — are motivated by a desire to pad “the bottom line.” Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York called those remarks “scurrilous” and “very nasty.” They also were not true.

The Holy Father likely felt it necessary to express solidarity with the American bishops.

Archbishop Broglio’s Response

The papal letter prompted an immediate response from Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

Archbishop Broglio welcomed the Holy Father’s letter and asked for his “continued prayers so that we may find the courage as a nation to build a more humane system of immigration, one that protects our communities while safeguarding the dignity of all.” 

Many commentators characterize the issue as “divisive,” which it is as a political matter, especially in the rhetoric deployed. But the American bishops are remarkably united on immigration — and they have been for decades. 

Just last week, a joint statement of the bishops of Minnesota reflected that consensus. It directly addressed the recent Trump administration directives. Like the papal letter, it stresses the priority of human dignity.

“We encourage the Administration to conduct immigration enforcement prudently, cautiously, and always with human dignity in mind,” the bishops wrote, including Archbishop Bernard Hebda, Bishop Andrew Cozzens and Bishop Robert Barron. “Central to protecting human dignity is respecting the security and integrity of the family. And families — especially those with minor children and those whose children or siblings are citizens — should not be separated and deported.” 

During the election campaign, the bishops of Ohio issued a joint statement also rooted in human dignity and appealing to the lesson of the Good Samaritan. That letter was issued after Trump and Vance spread untruths about Haitian immigrants “eating pets” in Springfield, Ohio. It did not name names, but it was a direct rebuke, much like the papal letter of this week.

The Ohio letter also quoted the 1952 constitution of Pius XII. While the Holy Father’s letter generated international headlines, it is of a piece with the Ohio and Minnesota letters. As such, the letter will likely be warmly received by the U.S. bishops to whom it was addressed.