Pope praises US history of welcoming immigrants in implicit rebuke to Trump

Pope Leo urges Americans to live up to ideals of Declaration of Independence in first key address to US

Pope Leo has used his first key address to his home country to praise the US history of ⁠welcoming migrants, urging Americans to live up to the ideals put forward in the ⁠Declaration of Independence.

In his latest implicit rebuke to Donald Trump, the first US leader of the Roman Catholic church said the word “America” had become ‌a “byword for freedom” across the world because of the way the country welcomed migrants.

In a speech given live from the Vatican to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia ‌as he received the its Liberty Medal, Leo said he hoped that ideals ​of “unity, justice and peace” held by the founding fathers would guide the US as it celebrated its 250th anniversary.

“This historic anniversary presents ⁠us with the opportunity to reflect once again on ​the ​nation’s founding principles ​in the hope that America will remain ​ever true ‌to the ​dream ​that has earned it the title of land of the free and home of the brave,” the pope said.

Leo marked US’s 250th anniversary on Saturday with a brief visit to the southern Italian island of Lampedusa, one of the main entry points to Europe for people making the perilous sea crossing from north Africa in search of refuge.

Leo arrived in Lampedusa by helicopter early on Saturday morning. Among those gathered near Italy’s southernmost port to see the pope were newly arrived migrants, Italian coastguard search-and-rescue ‌officials and aid groups.

Leo told them he had come to show that the pope “continues to accompany you, support you and encourage you”.

The pope also called on European leaders to tackle migration “in a comprehensive manner, integrating immediate relief efforts into a long-term strategic plan capable of receiving, protecting, supporting and integrating migrants”.

He also called on leaders to help improve conditions in migrants’ home countries so that fewer people felt compelled to leave.

Like Francis, Leo has clashed with Trump over his immigration policies, calling in November for “deep reflection” in the US about the treatment of people held in detention. Relations with the Trump administration worsened further after the pontiff strongly condemned the US-Israeli war in Iran .

Days before Leo’s trip to Lampedusa, JD Vance, the US vice-president, said the Vatican’s views on immigration were “troubling”.

Leo is yet to take up Trump’s invitation to the White House, made by Vance during a meeting at the Vatican the day after Leo’s inaugural papal mass in May last year.

The US is not on Leo’s overseas itinerary for 2026, although there were reportedly expectations among some in Trump’s administration that he would attend the Fourth of July celebrations.

Marco Politi, a Vatican journalist and author, said: “Leo’s trip to Lampedusa is strongly symbolic and is also a political sign. He is focusing on the theme of immigration. This means reaffirming what he recently said in Spain about the dignity of every human being, but the trip is also a political message against the persecution of immigrants and what is being done by ICE agents in the US.

“Furthermore, it is a strong political message against all the parties in Europe who sow hatred and polarise.”

Andrea Vreede, the Vatican correspondent for the Dutch broadcaster NOS, said Leo’s trip was partly to pay homage to Francis but also to make a point to Trump. “The pope is telling Trump what is important to him, and that is migrants. He chose 4 July to make this point.”

Lampedusa, home to roughly 6,000 residents and located closer to Tunisia than mainland Italy, has for decades been the first port of call for people crossing the Mediterranean in flimsy boats from north Africa. More than 182,000 people have transited the island’s reception centre in the past three years, Vatican News reported this week, citing data from the Italian Red Cross.

Since 2014, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) has recorded tens of thousands of deaths of people who set off from Tunisia or Libya. Despite a sharp drop in arrivals along Italy’s southern shores in recent years, the fatalities continue. Between January and early April, the IOM reported nearly 1,000 people either dead or missing in the Mediterranean.

Leo will celebrate mass and speak to people who have survived the journey as well as humanitarian workers in Lampedusa before leaving shortly after midday.

Kandeh Abdourahman, a cultural mediator who works on the island for the International Rescue Committee, said: “I was one of those thousands who crossed the Mediterranean and landed in Lampedusa in 2015, exhausted and uncertain. The pope’s visit speaks to every one of us – a reminder that our stories are seen, that ‘welcome’ is not just a word but an act of humanity that can help us reach all 118 million people displaced in the world today.”