Pope Francis sent “cordial greetings” and “assurance of my prayers” to Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.
In the text, released by the Vatican at midday, Pope Francis assured the president of his prayer “that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection in the exercise of your high duties.”
“Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all,” the pope said, “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.”
His words appeared to allude to several issues, including the question of migration, on which the pope and the president have very different positions. In February 2016, on a flight from Mexico to Rome, Pope Francis said in response to a question about Mr. Trump’s plan to build a wall at the U.S.-Mexico border and to deport 11 million undocumented migrants that “a person who thinks only of building walls, wherever it may be, and not of building bridges, is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.”
More recently, during the inflight press conference returning from Singapore, on Sept. 13, 2024, Pope Francis was asked what advice he would give to Catholics in the United States on voting in the presidential election when one of the candidates supports abortion and the other candidate promises the mass deportation of undocumented people.
Pope Francis replied:
Both are against life: the one who throws out migrants and the one who kills children. Both are against life. I cannot decide. I am not American and I will not go to vote there. But let it be clear: sending migrants away, denying them the ability to work and refusing them hospitality is a sin, and it is grave. The Old Testament speaks repeatedly of the orphan, the widow, and the stranger—migrants. Israel must care for these three groups. Whoever fails to care for migrants is at fault; it is a sin, a sin against the lives of those people.
On Sunday evening, Jan. 19, on the eve of the president’s inauguration, Pope Francis appeared on a talk show on Italian television’s Channel 9 and was asked what he thought about Mr. Trump’s plan to carry out mass deportations of undocumented migrants immediately after his installation. “If this is true, it would be a disgrace, because it would make the poor wretches, who have nothing, pay the bill of the inequalities [in the world],” he said. “It doesn’t work. Problems are not resolved this way. That’s not the way to resolve them.”
Catholic leaders in the United States have also spoken out against Mr. Trump’s mass deportation plans. Cardinal Blase Cupich, the archbishop of Chicago, a city that has been identified as an early target for deportation arrests, said on Sunday: “The Catholic community stands with the people of Chicago in speaking out in defense of the rights of immigrants and asylum seekers. Similarly, if the reports are true, it should be known that we would oppose any plan that includes a mass deportation of U.S. citizens born of undocumented parents.”
In his message of good wishes today, Pope Francis appeared to recognize President Trump’s expressed intention to bring an end to the wars in the Holy Land and Ukraine, something the pope, too, has advocated for. He told the president, “At the same time, as our human family faces numerous challenges, not to mention the scourge of war, I also ask God to guide your efforts in promoting peace and reconciliation among peoples.”
He concluded his message by telling the president, “With these sentiments, I invoke upon you, your family, and the beloved American people an abundance of divine blessings.”
