Althouse: "The pope, who did not single out any country for its treatment of migrants, called on Catholics to 'open our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope.'"

October 5, 2025

"The pope, who did not single out any country for its treatment of migrants, called on Catholics to 'open our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, and being for them a presence of consolation and hope.'"

Reuters reports.

171 comments:

Dude1394 said...: Open up Vatican City dude.; 10/5/25, 6:23 AM
rehajm said...: What is the crisis that motivated over ten million people to suddenly decide coming to America was a life and death priority? It was a grand plan of the Biden cabal to entice any and every third-worlder to come to the United States in exchange for the riches of US middle class lifestyle, all free paid for mostly with US Treasury money passed through a sieve of entities to hide their tracks and as a bonus: hyper citizen status and immunity from prosecution for even violent crimes. One might be inclined to forgive Pope Dunce for his ignorance of the situation and his participation in perpetuating the crisis…I’m not one of them. There’s an element of pure evil in his words and actions…; 10/5/25, 6:30 AM
Humperdink said...: The “No Vacancy” sign is permanently etched on the Vatican door.; 10/5/25, 6:31 AM
Breezy said...: He should call on the leaders, political and religious, of the countries that the immigrants are fleeing to take better care of their citizens. Encouraging migration is destabilizing to the world. Why would a Pope, of all people, do that?; 10/5/25, 6:32 AM
Shouting Thomas said...: I’m Catholic. Played organ for Vigil Mass last night. I’m in favor of taking care of the poor immigrant if he manages to get into the country, and I’m also in favor of a secured border and enforced immigration law.; 10/5/25, 6:36 AM
mindnumbrobot said...: No distinction between legal and illegal immigration, as usual. Perhaps we wouldn't need "President Donald Trump's hard-line anti-immigration policies" if we hadn't left the border open to 10 million plus illegals.; 10/5/25, 6:37 AM
rehajm said...: If he wants me to help immigrants I shall by supporting those immigrants who took the time and effort to enter the United States legally by working to help the illegal migrants return to their homelands safely where perhaps someday we’ll rid ourselves of the desperate leadership that created this humanitarian disaster and replace them with compassionate leaders who can craft a sensible sustainable immigration policy…; 10/5/25, 6:37 AM
Leland said...: I suggest the Pope visit Nigeria. If that is too far a trip, how about Syria?; 10/5/25, 6:37 AM
R C Belaire said...: "Breezy said... Why would a Pope, of all people, do that?"
It's no-cost virtue signaling! And as Dude1394 implied, until the Vatican packs them in, he really has no skin in the game.; 10/5/25, 6:38 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Leland said...

"I suggest the Pope visit Nigeria. If that is too far a trip, how about Syria?"

My suggestion: Rotherham.; 10/5/25, 6:39 AM
Chick said...: Help them murder, rape and steal.; 10/5/25, 6:42 AM
Barry Dauphin said...: How about decrying the governments of the countries immigrants are coming from?; 10/5/25, 6:46 AM
MadTownGuy said...: Barry Dauphin said...

"How about decrying the governments of the countries immigrants are coming from?"

Why would he decry those "workers' paradises?" /sarc; 10/5/25, 6:52 AM
Humperdink said...: The Pope says we should welcome them. After all, they could be future gun toting school superintendents.; 10/5/25, 6:55 AM
Jaq said...: Popes are always globalists, goes back many centuries.; 10/5/25, 6:56 AM
n.n said...: Immigrants or illegal aliens?

Before or after Planned Parenthood?

Murderers, rapists, drug mules, pedophiles, human traffickers?

Emigration reform to mitigate progress and collateral damage at both ends of the bridge and throughout.; 10/5/25, 6:59 AM
Eric the Fruit Bat said...: The mitre should be a sombrero.; 10/5/25, 7:01 AM
Cat Lady from PA said...: Another Catholic checking in.
Hey, I have a great idea! Lefties (in which I now include this Pope) always talk about root causes, why doesn't the hierarchy of the Catholic church report on the root causes of why these people feel they need to flee their countries?
Something makes me think the millions of US taxpayer dollars that have been given to this or that NGO (Catholic Charities, anyone?) operating in Central and South America might be a start.
Oh and I'll gladly open my open arms and hearts to anyone who comes here LEGALLY and is not part of some Democratic push to stay in power for eternity (and how is THAT working out for them these days!); 10/5/25, 7:02 AM
rehajm said...: 21st century popes get their agendas from watching the women on The View. Someone needs to calmly explain to them the error if their ways…; 10/5/25, 7:06 AM
Wilbur said...: I laughed when people said (here and elsewhere) "Oh, we hope this Pope will be different! The last one was a Leftist stooge. This one's American and a White Sox fan!"

I'm still laughing.; 10/5/25, 7:08 AM
rhhardin said...: The Vatican is the perfect place for them.; 10/5/25, 7:14 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Wonder if the Pope would use the same words for invading Army.; 10/5/25, 7:17 AM
G. Poulin said...: For Christians, "brothers and sisters" refers to fellow Christians, not to anyone and everyone. This pope, like the last one, reveals himself to be a Scriptural illiterate. I have stopped looking to the popes and bishops for any sort of sound guidance; they are simply not up to the task.; 10/5/25, 7:20 AM
Jersey Fled said...: Another verse for the Pope. Romans 13: 1-2

“ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.
Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves.”

Legal immigrants yes. Illegal immigrants no.; 10/5/25, 7:24 AM
rehajm said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/5/25, 7:26 AM
rehajm said...: …and those people who try to link the Pope’s words to Donald Trump are not as clever as they think. They can also go to Hell…; 10/5/25, 7:26 AM
Eva Marie said...: Theme for today: it’s all a clown show.; 10/5/25, 7:33 AM
Peachy said...: We have laws, Pope. Laws.

We already welcome over one million LEGAL immigrants every year.

Does the Pope stand in favor with Law Breaking?; 10/5/25, 7:42 AM
Peachy said...: Curious if Pope is OK with Illegal entrant Islamic Males raping children?; 10/5/25, 7:43 AM
rehajm said...: See- you need to support our catastrophic policies because the pope supports us! He’s no Oprah but we’ll pay her with your money to say something next…; 10/5/25, 7:44 AM
Peachy said...: All Leftists should open their DOORS and HOMES to illegals.

We wait.; 10/5/25, 7:44 AM
Peachy said...: It is incumbent upon leftwing Hollywood - with their vast multiple mega-mansions and large 20,000 foot estates - to open their homes to ILLEGAL immigrants.
Illegal immigrants like Abgreo.
Abrego - The Illegal Chris VanHollen(D) shared a nice cocktail with as Abrego sat with his hands hidden under the table.; 10/5/25, 7:50 AM
rrsafety said...: Immigrants or migrants? Illegal immigrants or legal immigrants? So many questions.; 10/5/25, 7:50 AM
Peachy said...: The Soros family should be required to house at least one million illegals. That's a small percentage of the total of Biden illegals that were bussed and trucked to the border.... so they would illegally cross and enter our nation - illegally.
Come on Pope - pray it happens.; 10/5/25, 7:52 AM
Iman said...: The pope smokes bad dope.; 10/5/25, 7:55 AM
john mosby said...: Breezy: "Why would a Pope, of all people, do that?"

Still angry at Italy for becoming a secular unified nation-state. 164 years is a blip in institutional memory. CC, JSM; 10/5/25, 7:55 AM
Cappy said...: ...Nope...; 10/5/25, 7:57 AM
bob said...: Pope Leo, you first. Let immigrants into the Vatican. Tear down the walls!; 10/5/25, 7:57 AM
n.n said...: DREAMers in Martha's Vineyard was a novel green deal aborted.

"Burdens", labor arbitrage, Democratic gerrymandering, redistributive change schemes because Obamacares.; 10/5/25, 7:59 AM
john mosby said...: Belaire: "Until the Vatican packs them in, he really has no skin in the game."

Yes, knock down all the quaint old buildings and put in multi-use high rises. If it took on Manhattan's population density, it could have about 14,000 migrants. Doesn't come near solving the problem, but if it saves one military-age male Muslim fanatic, isn't it worth it? CC, JSM; 10/5/25, 8:00 AM
narciso said...: he hath removed all doubt, as a worshiper of the sky dragon,
now he supports the invasion of the new comers, which Meloni Orban, now Babis in Czechoslovakia opposes,; 10/5/25, 8:01 AM
Peachy said...: Martha's White Left Vineyard - is not listening to the Pope.; 10/5/25, 8:02 AM
narciso said...: some missionaries who are stationed in vienna and other places, welcome the invasion, because they think they will win converts, but the OIC obviously thinks differently,; 10/5/25, 8:03 AM
Lucien said...: Migrants travel to a country in order to do work there, and then go home. Immigrants travel to a country in order to live there indefinitely. Some migrants are legal, and some illegal. Ditto immigrants. Those on the left never want to address these distinctions, and so seek to speak as vaguely as possible — usually using “migrant” as an umbrella term.; 10/5/25, 8:05 AM
n.n said...: Google me this. Umbrella corporation? Resident evil.; 10/5/25, 8:09 AM
narciso said...: maybe the pontiff should have noticed crumpsall man, not in his wheelhouse,; 10/5/25, 8:10 AM
john mosby said...: Peachy: “ Curious if Pope is OK with Illegal entrant Islamic Males raping children?”

Well the girls need something to do while the priests bugger the boys….CC, JSM; 10/5/25, 8:10 AM
n.n said...: The girls are raped and rape-raped. The boys are groomed through transgender conversion therapy. The "burden" of evidence is aborted, sequestered in sanctuary states. Social progress of the liberal kind. #MeToo; 10/5/25, 8:16 AM
Howard said...: Oh for the good old days when Pipes were rapists, torturers and Nazi's.; 10/5/25, 8:18 AM
narciso said...: the Crumpsall man, lived near Rochdale, one of the colony of newcomers, who seem to think they run the joint,; 10/5/25, 8:19 AM
narciso said...: (spoiler warning) they do, I know it's not specifically in his brief, but he could pretend to reference the Scriptures,; 10/5/25, 8:22 AM
narciso said...: if we're going to have another buddy pope, out of Dogma, then this isn't going to work out,

Pope Pius for those without the rosetta, was working with the anti Hitler underground through the 30s, he was also conscious of communist influence, the one who actually was Hitler's penpal, was Haj Amin Arafat's uncle,; 10/5/25, 8:29 AM
narciso said...: Pacepa the DIE defector revealed how the Deputy was a product of a Soviet Passive measure against the West; 10/5/25, 8:33 AM
FormerLawClerk said...: And how many illegal aliens are they providing housing for in the Vatican - which is surrounded entirely by a 33-foot high wall to keep them out?

0; 10/5/25, 8:34 AM
Spiros said...: Murder rates are plummeting in the United States AND in Latin America. In Mexico City, the murder rate fell 15% in six months. It is obvious that Trump's border policies are driving murder rates down. I think our open borders caused, across North and South America, an additional 100,000 murders every year. Cartels easily smuggled fentanyl across our open borders for years -- causing tens of thousands of additional, ugly deaths. How many children and women were sexually trafficked (raped) across our borders? The toll has been so massive that anybody who advocates for open borders is either ignorant or evil.; 10/5/25, 8:36 AM
n.n said...: Pope Pius for those without the rosetta, was working with the anti Hitler underground

Catholics were not, are not always leftists in progress and religion. Not always DEIst in character. Not followers of consensus and seance in science. #HateLovesAbortion; 10/5/25, 8:39 AM
Sydney said...: Here is the actual text of the homily, which is quite different than Reuters' interpetration:
https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/homilies/2025/documents/20251005-giubileo-mondo-missionario.html
He doesn't say anything about governments at all. The homily is directed at Christians, more specifically Catholic Christians and the Church. It doesn't say anything about immigration laws. It's about being Christ to each other. A lot of people have trouble embracing this aspect of Christian teaching, but we are to recognize the dignity of each person, regardless of how great a sinner they are. Even a serial killer is human and has the potential for redemption. That doesn't mean that we tell them it's OK to kill people or that we tolerate their sin. It means that we hold out the same hope to them of redemption, that we don't write them off as less than human because of their sin.; 10/5/25, 8:41 AM
n.n said...: Reuters reports or translates, transcribes?; 10/5/25, 8:45 AM
Not Illinois Resident said...: Pope is a cloistered careerist, a self-identifying "Liberation Gospel Catholic", with little practical experience in life, nor governance, but nonetheless advocating an "open borders" policy for western civilization to be invaded by 3rd-world migrant military age men who truthfully both contribute very little to the economy of their adopted new country and yet cause a fair amount of violent crime and sexual harassment of native-born and migrant women within their new community. Oh, the inconvenient truth. This Chicago-born pope seems little interested in spiritual welfare of his global flock, while on his bully pulpit of progressive socialist destruction of western civilization. And no, I'm not over-reacting. Look at the headlines in England, France and Germany, in US and Canada; responsible church leadership has disappeared into murk of woke.; 10/5/25, 8:46 AM
Curious George said...: "Peachy said...
Curious if Pope is OK with Illegal entrant Islamic Males raping children?"

Sure. Why should priests have all the fun.; 10/5/25, 8:47 AM
Sydney said...: Another thing that bugs me about that Reuters story is that it mischaracterizes Pope Leo's earlier comments about immigration. He did not criticize Donald Trump. The context of his earlier comments was an answer to a question from a EWTN reporter who asked him how Catholics could make sense of a life time achievement award that Cardinal Cupich was giving to Senator Durbin, a notoriously pro-abortion politician. Cupich argued that he was giving him the award for his work on immigration policy and that by doing so he hoped to "open dialogue." Many bishops spoke out against the award openly and behind the scenes because of Durbin's pro-abortion work. Here was the Pope's answer:
“I understand the difficulty and the tensions,” said Pope Leo XIV. “But I think as I myself have spoken in the past, it’s important to look at many issues that are related to the teachings of the Church.”

The Pope continued: “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion’ but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the Pope explained. “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

“So they are very complex issues, and I don’t know if anyone has all the truth on them,” he said, “but I would ask, first and foremost, that they would have respect for one another and that we search together both as human beings, and in that case as American citizens and citizens of the state of Illinois, as well as Catholics, to say that we need to be close to all of these ethical issues. And to find the way forward as a Church. The Church teaching on each one of those issues is very clear.”
https://www.ncregister.com/news/liedl-cupich-durbin-situation-aftermath; 10/5/25, 8:48 AM
narciso said...: he was a missionary in Peru in the 90s, and briefly in Algeria, in the aftermath of the massacres by the terrorists there, not a few of them, sought sanctuary in the UK,; 10/5/25, 8:49 AM
narciso said...: that doesn't really explain how he supports a wretch like Durbin, because of the Death Penalty, really,; 10/5/25, 8:50 AM
narciso said...: how about the latter's part in the Alexandria shoot out,; 10/5/25, 8:51 AM
Achilles said...: Jaq said...
Popes are always globalists, goes back many centuries.

The entire purpose of the Catholic Church was to co-opt Christianity and turn its power into a political tool to control people.

That is why catholic countries are poor and corrupt.

Christianity was never meant to be a political organization with power centered in the church in one city in the world. Christianity was meant to be a decentralized system for building Christian virtues in people.; 10/5/25, 8:56 AM
tommyesq said...: I wish Popes would occasionally exhort others to live by Catholic principles or extoll the benefits of not crapping on your host country instead of just browbeating Catholics.; 10/5/25, 8:58 AM
Bob B said...: Trump now has yet another country (The Vatican) to send illegal aliens to.; 10/5/25, 9:02 AM
narciso said...: Pope Benedict might have had some faults, but he was prematurely forced out, so we would have these two much less significant figures, of course in Perfidious Albion hold my ale, someone worse that Rowan Williams and Welby,; 10/5/25, 9:03 AM
Howard said...: Achilles is right. The Catholic Church was established to ensure the continuation of the Roman Empire by other means.; 10/5/25, 9:04 AM
n.n said...: Fostering abortive ideation and recidivism is not pro-life.

Immigration reform in lieu of emigration reform is not pro-life.

Prosecutorial indiscretion and redistributive change schemes are not pro-life.

Gender corruption therapy and queer sexual orientations are not pro-life.

Diversity rather than diversity, is not pro-life or dignity.

The science of consensus is not pro-life.; 10/5/25, 9:05 AM
narciso said...: the Faith is enduring, it's the vessel that is weak,; 10/5/25, 9:05 AM
Peachy said...: Sydney
hmmm - so the Pope uses moral equivalencies. Not impressive.; 10/5/25, 9:06 AM
Paul said...: Hey Pope, with all due respect, take down the Vatican walls and allow illegals in. Do that and I'll believe you. Deeds not words.; 10/5/25, 9:08 AM
wild chicken said...: Well I finally figured it out yesterday. we need all these immigrants to come and pay withholding taxes, that they never draw on because they go back home, or they were using fraudulent social security numbers.

They're keeping social security afloat. Genius!; 10/5/25, 9:10 AM
TosaGuy said...: The United States is the most generous country in the history of the world. I’m Catholic and the Pope’s message is counterproductive to his efforts. It will further isolate him from Catholics within the US.; 10/5/25, 9:10 AM
tommyesq said...: Sydney, what exactly is this "inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States" that this Pope speaks of?; 10/5/25, 9:11 AM
narciso said...: as with many things they dont mean, much as with Western Europe where they ended up largely on the dole,; 10/5/25, 9:11 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: "The Pope continued: “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion’ but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the Pope explained. “Someone who says, ‘I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States,’ I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”

Equating the execution of murderers with the abortion of innocent babies and declaring that it is "inhuman" to arrest and deport illegal aliens who refuse to leave after they have been identified and offered money and travel accommodations to the destination of their choice is the kind of fallacious and obnoxious reasoning that permeates leftist morality. Not surprised at all to find the pope of hypocrisy making this statement inside his palace protected by high walls and armed guards. It's more surprising and alarming to see adherents to that faith declare that anyone who can sneak into our country, no matter their past and present crimes and evils, should be protected.
Father forgive them. They will face that judgment before God. Here on Earth, our duty is to protect and serve our people, our families, our community, not allow killers and criminals to live among us and prey upon the innocent. Forgiving transgression does not mean let evil reign.
Protecting the babies, killing the killers, and deport the illegals is the duty we have to each other to keep a safe, sane and civil society.; 10/5/25, 9:13 AM
Josephbleau said...: “Theme for today: it’s all a clown show.”

A good summary. The leaders of Europe and the Pope still value the ideals of royalty, that is, I don’t care how poor and hungry the masses are, as long as me and the elites are just better off than them, on a sliding scale.; 10/5/25, 9:14 AM
Ampersand said...: I try to find meaning and value in Catholicism. Every time I hear one of these political statements, it gets more difficult.; 10/5/25, 9:14 AM
hanuman_prodigious_leaper said...: Rome to Syria >>> Total Driving Distance Travelled is 3288 Km
Rome to Nigeria >>> Total Driving Distance Travelled is 5701 Km; 10/5/25, 9:14 AM
narciso said...: because the Word has little to do with the transient messengers, left to it's own designs, the Vatican would become a Mosque as one leading Saudi cleric has suggested
(he was the chaplain of their naval academy); 10/5/25, 9:17 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Rehajm @ 6:30 AM et al, I read comments like yours and wonder if you guys actually take yourself seriously or if the slow drip nightly Fox News entertainers have you mesmerized and bobbing your heads up and down with theirs. I think we can all agree immigration is a mess that needs serious reform, but this particular version of events doesn’t match the facts very well.

There’s no “grand plan” to entice anyone here — migration has been rising across the hemisphere for years because of violence, political collapse, and economic ruin in places like Venezuela, Haiti, and Nicaragua. COVID was a big contributor when gangs took over government. It’s not about promises from Washington; it’s about survival.

Here’s a fact that that Trumpers want to ignore- the above mentioned asylum seekers didn’t illegally cross the boarder and the U.S. is obligated under international laws and agreements to allow them in.

If you recall (unless Newsmax, EpochTimes or Alex Jones failed to tell you), under Biden, Republicans had a sweetheart of a bill in their hands to help secure the boarder under those conditions, a bill that contained a wish list of theirs and nothing but concessions from Democrats, only to turn it down at the brow beat of Trump because closing the boarder before November wouldn’t have been politically advantageous for his campaign. He actually said it out loud.

Aside from Republicans openly refusing to allow Biden the tools to effectively close the boarder, the Trump 45 administration never stopped illegal immigration during but it did a great deal to stop and inflict pain on legal immigration. He cut off legal pathways to citizenship as well as funding to Central American countries. He tightened sanctions on Cuba, Venezuela, and Nicaragua which led hundreds of thousands to flee and arrive at the southern border. To complicate the problem more, he cut off assistance programs that were in place for such situations.

Trump also implemented Migrant Protection Protocols, forcing asylum seekers (not illegals but people knocking on our door and asking to enter) to wait in Mexico for their US immigration hearings, leaving around 70k people stuck for months only to be kidnapped, raped, and abused by gangs.

This was simply another spectacular policy failure to be inherited by the Biden administration.

As for “free middle-class lifestyles,” that’s not how it works. Undocumented migrants can’t collect federal benefits like welfare or Medicaid, and even legal immigrants have to wait years before qualifying for most aid. Meanwhile, most are paying sales tax and payroll taxes they’ll never get back.

And the “immunity from prosecution” idea is pure fiction. Non-citizens are prosecuted and deported every day. You can check ICE’s public data — thousands are removed each month for criminal offenses.

We can have a tough conversation about border security and asylum backlogs, but blaming it on some hidden “cabal” or “evil plan” just pulls attention away from real fixes like modernizing processing, funding courts, and working with other nations to slow the chaos at its roots.

The truth is complicated, but it’s not the cartoon version some would have us believe.; 10/5/25, 9:18 AM
Josephbleau said...: I saw the Pope out there blessing a damned block of cocktail ice and getting his popettes to shake a big tarp, I am not going to such a man for guidance.

Mark Twain toured Mexico and commented that he did not understand why the poor and starving did not just rob the churches.; 10/5/25, 9:18 AM
Achilles said...: tommyesq said...

I wish Popes would occasionally exhort others to live by Catholic principles or extoll the benefits of not crapping on your host country instead of just browbeating Catholics.

You can wish in one hand and shit in the other hand.

The Catholic church as founded and maintained is a tool to wield political power in the name of Christ.

Christianity as a political force represents an existential threat to the power of the political class. There is always that group of people who seek power and control over others. Political power is an irresistible magnet to them. A decentralized Christianity builds virtues in individuals in society that make them harder to control.

At a fundamental level the Catholic Church is a tool to blunt the building of virtue in the individual.; 10/5/25, 9:24 AM
Narr said...: That smirk says it all.; 10/5/25, 9:26 AM
narciso said...: no Raymond we already saw this movie,

our parents took eight years to get out of the communist hell hole, that the Company collaborated in putting in Place, because they were foolish or worse,; 10/5/25, 9:27 AM
Ann Althouse said...: "That smirk says it all."

I feel like I can hear the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" music playing.; 10/5/25, 9:28 AM
MadTownGuy said...: wild chicken said...

"Well I finally figured it out yesterday. we need all these immigrants to come and pay withholding taxes, that they never draw on because they go back home, or they were using fraudulent social security numbers.

They're keeping social security afloat. Genius!"

Except...

Noncitizens and Immigration Categories

"Laws Governing Noncitizen Eligibility

To qualify for SSI, noncitizens must meet the program's basic eligibility requirements as well as additional eligibility requirements that apply only to noncitizens (i.e., noncitizen eligibility requirements). Many noncitizen eligibility requirements are designed to limit the ability of certain noncitizens to participate in SSI based on their immigration status and certain other factors and, as such, are often referred to as restrictions on noncitizen eligibility. However, some of these requirements are intended to limit financial eligibility or the level/type of assistance for noncitizens who have an immigration sponsor—an individual who accepts legal responsibility for financially supporting the sponsored immigrant (see "Sponsor Deeming and Reimbursement" for more information)."; 10/5/25, 9:32 AM
Tom Locker said...: I was hoping the new Pope would promulgate a teaching that it is a sin to illegally enter a country not your own, take up residence there, subvert the country's employment and tax laws, and accept welfare benefits intended for legal residents.; 10/5/25, 9:32 AM
minnesota farm guy said...: One could ask how many immigrants the Pope has to deal with (feed, house, educate) in Vatican City.; 10/5/25, 9:33 AM
Butkus51 said...: We will call him the Abortion Pope.; 10/5/25, 9:34 AM
EdwdLny said...: "Why would a Pope, of all people, do that?". Because it doesn't cost the Vatican a dime. It's easy to demand of others that which you will never do, never do. The pope, the Vatican have no skin in the game, so they can demand all sorts of bovine scatology on their flock and every one else. So, bugger off there pope. I will continue to mock and deride you and your asinine proclamations and demands.; 10/5/25, 9:37 AM
narciso said...: in much of the West, they will fall for this script, it takes an Archbishop Sarah to actually cling to the faith, same with Archbishop Vigano, who the last pope excommunicated,
or the one down in Tyler Texas,; 10/5/25, 9:42 AM
Josephbleau said...: “ The truth is complicated, but it’s not the cartoon version some would have us believe.”

It damned sure is complicated, and you have no idea what it is, have you been to a Chicago ER like Rush or UIC at any hour of the day and seen the flood of people who think they have a cold? Their bills are paid with money the states trick fuck from the feds.; 10/5/25, 9:42 AM
Iman said...: “Sure. Why should priests have all the fun.”

Now, that was just mean, man!; 10/5/25, 9:46 AM
Peachy said...: Ron Ward is a liar and a leftist propagandist.

Ron said: "Aside from Republicans openly refusing to allow Biden the tools to effectively close the boarder, "

What? Democrats refused to budget any money for Trump's border wall and then sold off stacks of Border wall iron to the lowest bidder.

Biden's illegals didn't walk across Mexico. they were bussed in and trucked in... daily. for years. Biden gutted ICE and forced agents to allow them in.; 10/5/25, 9:48 AM
Aggie said...: "The pope....called on Catholics to 'open our arms and hearts to them, welcoming them as brothers and sisters, ..."

As with the Great Climate Change Hoax, I'll start believing the pope when the Catholic Church starts acting like they're welcoming everybody as brothers and sisters. Right now their wallet is so stuffed with wealth and assets that it's already open, unable to be closed - but I don't see any displays of giving, or improvements.; 10/5/25, 9:49 AM
james said...: Sydney @ 8:48AM

The pope, being American is well versed on American politics and should have chosen his words much more carefully if he did not want to be perceived as overtly political and partisan.

His claim that one cannot be prolife and pro-death penalty is dubious. One can easily argue that one cannot be anti-death penalty and prolife.; 10/5/25, 9:49 AM
n.n said...: The pope is fallible, the church is not. They need less pomp and more patron. Where there is conflict, ambiguity, return to the black letter of the religion for a spiritual awakening.; 10/5/25, 9:51 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Alternate Caption: Pope Leo shown pissing on the world from a great height.; 10/5/25, 9:52 AM
Peachy said...: Furthermore - Biden openly stated he wanted millions of illegals to abuse out Asylum laws.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rYwLYMPLYbo; 10/5/25, 9:53 AM
narciso said...: I think I said that, we wants to appeal to the Times and the Ossservatore,; 10/5/25, 9:59 AM
Bob Boyd said...: Compare and contrast Leo and John Paul II; 10/5/25, 9:59 AM
Yancey Ward said...: How many immigrants from Africa and Asia has Vatican City taken in?; 10/5/25, 10:05 AM
Yancey Ward said...: I see Ronald Ward is lying once again.; 10/5/25, 10:06 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Josephbleau @9:42, for perspective, the majority of ER patients in big-city hospitals are U.S. citizens without good insurance. Federal law (EMTALA) requires hospitals to treat anyone in an emergency, and states get partial federal reimbursement for all uncompensated care — not just for non-citizens.

The current Trump/GOP plan tackles that problem creatively: remove millions of Americans from quality insurance to fund tax cuts for the ultra-rich. Fewer insured patients, more closed ERs — problem solved. What could go wrong?; 10/5/25, 10:09 AM
n.n said...: More lives are saved and created through emigration reform, capital (not Capitol) punishment, and unPlanned parenthood.; 10/5/25, 10:10 AM
narciso said...: day ending in y; 10/5/25, 10:12 AM
narciso said...: blue states can't complain, they have made their bed,; 10/5/25, 10:18 AM
james said...: RJ Ward @9:18AM

Aside from the insufferable condescension that progressives rely so heavily on, you're condemning the ignorance of those you disagree with while demonstrating your own. Or maybe just lying. The alleged "immigration reform law" proposed by Dems during the Biden administration was a trojan horse designed to increase the flow of illegal immigrants and give more of them long-term legal status. Maybe you should explain how Trump managed to end 95+% of that illegal immigration without that law when Dems assured us the only way to stop it was with the alleged reform?

I'll add that much of your position rest on the exceedingly weak and thin reed of the aliens being asylum seekers. US law is clear: economic refugees are not entitled to asylum. Nor are those convicted of or even charged with serious crimes in any other country or the US.

Which brings us to the conspiracy you say doesn't exist. Globalist, progressive NGO run by people like you who hate the USA and want to destroy it coached the illegals to make the asylum claim despite being aware it was not a legitimate claim. To overwhelm the system and to create legal ambiguity which would take years to resolve, if it ever was. The Biden administration was happy to facilitate that fraud with a smart phone ap so that the fraudsters could file their fraudulent claim before they even left home. How is that not a conspiracy?

As for your claim that the illegal aliens were not drawn by a lack of even basic enforcement but their current living conditions, why did it stop within days of Trump taking office

While you're at it, why not explain to me why all of the illegal immigration was a ok with all the democrats until a tiny fraction of them were bussed from Texas to northern blue cities, at which point all of the same Dems were screaming bloody murder? I'll explain it for you. You're a liar who likes to pretend to be morally superior and dump all of the costs of decisions on others. The second you face the slightest inconvenience you start crying like a baby.
You have completely exhausted any goodwill you might have ever enjoyed from the sane commenters here. Try actually responding to arguments with accurate facts and sound reasoning instead of lies and self-righteousness.; 10/5/25, 10:20 AM
Wilbur said...: That he resorts to engaging in false equivalence is distressing to this K-12 grad of Catholic schools.; 10/5/25, 10:20 AM
narciso said...: doesn't fit on his cue card; 10/5/25, 10:30 AM
Ronald J. Ward said...: James, you packed a lot in there, so let’s start with what’s verifiable.

Trump didn’t “end 95% of illegal immigration.” Border apprehension numbers dropped in early 2020 because the pandemic froze movement worldwide — not because migration magically stopped. In fact, by 2019, illegal crossings had already spiked to a 12-year high during his term.

As for the “globalist NGO conspiracy,” I’ve seen that claim many times, but no one’s ever produced a credible source showing it’s real. What actually happened is that desperate people learned how U.S. asylum law works — often from humanitarian groups trying to keep families from dying in the desert, not destroy the country.

The smartphone app (CBP One) wasn’t a “fraud tool.” It was created to manage the chaos and let people make appointments instead of rushing the border — the opposite of what you describe.

I’ve never said all asylum claims are legitimate. Some are denied, as the law allows. But pretending every migrant is part of a plot is just as dishonest as pretending there’s no problem at all.

I don’t expect we’ll agree, but I’m sticking with verifiable data and U.S. law rather than conspiracy shorthand. That’s not moral superiority — just an attempt to keep the conversation grounded in reality.; 10/5/25, 10:38 AM
Paddy O said...: The immigration discussion now is the declaration of the failure of liberation theology. The goal of liberation theology was for the Church to advocate for the poor in historically Christian regions of central and south America. But instead the y now feel it is right to make the life of the poor so uncomforable and for them to feel so unwanted they are pushed to immigrate.

It stand against was the eaiest Liberation theology sought all while donning the corrupted cloak of its perceived moral weight.

The powerful protect the powerful amd the poor are someone else's problem. That's anti-Christ; 10/5/25, 10:40 AM
hombre said...: If Catholics heed the Pope’s advice, soon there will be no Catholics. The biblical admonitions about sojourners do not carry over to invaders. Sadly, this Pope, like the last one, needs to familiarize himself with life outside the Vatican as well as the holy books of Christianity and Islam.; 10/5/25, 10:42 AM
n.n said...: The pope with a trope and a soap on a rope reported by a dope.; 10/5/25, 10:48 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: The Pope runs a nation state--the Vatican--that could fit inside a small neighborhood in any major city. Yet he wants to advise the world to take in immigrants. As the saying goes (to an earlier Pope on the issue of contraception), "You no playa da game, you no makea the rules!"; 10/5/25, 10:54 AM
hombre said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/5/25, 10:54 AM
hombre said...: RJ Ward at 10:38: LOL! Read no further than paragraph two. Cognition stopped for Ward in 2020. And what Democrat wouldn’t like to forget the open border during Joe Turnip’s reign and Trump closing it without legislation? If there were no delusion and derangement, there would be no Democrats.; 10/5/25, 10:56 AM
Josephbleau said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/5/25, 10:56 AM
Josephbleau said...: You have convinced me Ward, we need more illegal immigrants to give ERs more business volume. Illegals are getting the health care that regular people aren’t willing to take.; 10/5/25, 10:58 AM
narciso said...: how did the flood turn into a trickle, hmm; 10/5/25, 11:07 AM
narciso said...: now the architect of this plan is jeffrey sachs after he crashed the Russian economy, and created the oligarchs, he had this clever notion,; 10/5/25, 11:08 AM
Jim Gust said...: The last Pope was an existential catastrophe for the Catholic Church. I see now that the new guy is worse.

Unless they drop the celibacy demand for priesthood, the Catholic Church will be gone in the USA in another 20 years. We're already seeing the closing and merging of once viable parishes. If I ran the Church, only married men would be allowed to be priests.; 10/5/25, 11:15 AM
narciso said...: perhaps but it really is a crisis of belief, if they are not strong in the Word, the Believer will stumble, look at the Anglicans with dread, of course Yes Minister, wryly depicted how Bishops are picked, or the Methodist, even the Southern Baptists have gone wobbly, because of the ERCA; 10/5/25, 11:19 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’Here’s a fact that that Trumpers want to ignore- the above mentioned asylum seekers didn’t illegally cross the boarder and the U.S. is obligated under international laws and agreements to allow them in.’

Chuck has detached from reality in a manner not previously observed.; 10/5/25, 11:25 AM
narciso said...: he's on a whole nother orbital plane,; 10/5/25, 11:34 AM
Robert Cook said...: "What is the crisis that motivated over ten million people to suddenly decide coming to America was a life and death priority? It was a grand plan of the Biden cabal to entice any and every third-worlder to come to the United States in exchange for the riches of US middle class lifestyle, all free paid for mostly with US Treasury money passed through a sieve of entities to hide their tracks and as a bonus: hyper citizen status and immunity from prosecution for even violent crimes. One might be inclined to forgive Pope Dunce for his ignorance of the situation and his participation in perpetuating the crisis…I’m not one of them. There’s an element of pure evil in his words and actions…."

One cannot forgive such an stinking turd of paranoid nonsense and toxic xenophobia.; 10/5/25, 11:35 AM
narciso said...: we have objective reality that is what happened the cbp app hid the most obvious manifestations,; 10/5/25, 11:40 AM
Narr said...: I wasn't familiar with the Curb Your Enthusiasm music (meaning the theme, I take it) so I listened it up.

Very Nino Rotaesque.; 10/5/25, 11:43 AM
JAORE said...: "There’s no “grand plan” to entice anyone here..."

Oh really? "As a candidate, Joe Biden said that if he were elected president, migrants should "immediately surge to the border."'; 10/5/25, 11:44 AM
Beasts of England said...: ’As a candidate, Joe Biden said that if he were elected president, migrants should "immediately surge to the border."’

I’m sure that was in compliance with Chuck’s imaginary ‘international law’. lol; 10/5/25, 11:47 AM
Iman said...: ‘I feel like I can hear the "Curb Your Enthusiasm" music playing’

That’s appropriate, even Nelson’s laugh would be very poperly of him.; 10/5/25, 11:59 AM
Peachy said...: 10:20 James.
Excellent

Also - we already have immigration laws.
Laws ignored by Crook liar Joe and his Soros foundation money.
LAW:
Illegally cross the border once - it's a misdemeanor.
Cross it twice - it's a felony.; 10/5/25, 12:00 PM
Earnest Prole said...: What would Jesus do, and why would the Pope recommend anything different?; 10/5/25, 12:10 PM
Tina Trent said...: As a Catholic, I appreciate the work done by mostly female observants (nuns and nun assistants) in horrifying condition around the world as Pope Leo sits on his silks. Certainly, he should set the example by flooding Vatican city with female refugees from Muslim countries. We do more for legal and illegal immigrants than any other country in the world, and I want him to acknowledge that.

I have a lot of Mexican friends from my church in Florida. To a person, they entered the right way befor Bush 1 threw open the gates. They're frantic about the current situation. They're on the front line dealing with gang violence and crime, sexual violence, drugs, and bad influences on their children. They tell me their work is getting scarce; their property values are dropping, and the people entering now really are scummy gangsters.

They voted for Trump.; 10/5/25, 12:20 PM
boatbuilder said...: For starters, how about making the basic and elementary distinction between immigrants and trespassers. If you don't do that, why should I pay any attention to you?; 10/5/25, 12:31 PM
Josephbleau said...: I bet the one thing Jesus would do is get out his whip when he sees the corrupt money changers of the NGO’s; 10/5/25, 12:50 PM
Disparity of Cult said...: What are the $ numbers for Catholic Charities since Trump restricted the supply of the huddled masses? Need to get that bag somehow, lapsed Catholics don't fill collection envelopes.; 10/5/25, 12:55 PM
Aggie said...: If you want to understand just how critical, how fundamentally important illegal aliens are to the Progressive Democrat voting base, just watch how they react in their strongholds when ICE comes to town and starts sending out the scores of illegals that have felony convictions on their record - many of those convictions in US courts. Or active standing deportation orders, or other criminal offenses. If you think they're reacting as if their air supply is being cut off, you're not far off.; 10/5/25, 12:56 PM
Josephbleau said...: I do like the popes green coat, very Irishy. If he was diverse he would have an orange one too.; 10/5/25, 12:57 PM
Aggie said...: ....and then combine that with the updates on how those voter roll cleanups are coming along. Shall we review a list of those states refusing to turn over the rolls used in Federal elections? Shall we contrast it with a list of those states refusing to require Voter ID at the polling place? Add it all up, and although it might seem complicated, it's still basic math.; 10/5/25, 12:58 PM
Peachy said...: Indeed Aggie - the basic math is - democrats need to cheat.; 10/5/25, 1:11 PM
Lazarus said...: Joe Biden literally said "I would, in fact, make sure that there is -- we immediately surge to the border all those people who are seeking asylum. They deserve to be heard. That's who we are. We're a nation who says, if you want to flee, and you're fleeing oppression, you should come." That invitation went out to many more people than those who were fleeing oppression, and was heard by human traffickers who even had t-shirts printed up. Biden invited a massive "surge to the border" and Mayorkas bent or broke the rules to let in as many people as possible. Trump is cleaning up the mess they made.

Grammar pedants take note. Sometimes this is punctuated differently: "I would, in fact, make sure that there is -- we immediately surge to the border. All those people who are seeking asylum, they deserve to be heard." That does put the senile old man's barely strung together words in a slightly different light, but the real world effect was the same.; 10/5/25, 1:18 PM
TosaGuy said...: As a Catholic, I, as an individual person or member of a parish, am to care for my fellow human when in need.

As a Catholic, I am not compelled to give up my nation’s sovereignty and drain my nation’s wealth, nor mandate my neighbor give up his wealth.

People who derive their sense of compassion by only voting to give away other people’s money are not compassionate. Compassion comes from one’s own sacrifice.; 10/5/25, 1:25 PM
Lazarus said...: He looks uncomfortable in the hat. Can anybody wear a hat like that without feeling at least a little comical or ironical?; 10/5/25, 1:42 PM
Tina Trent said...: We can do more for suffering in the world by rebuilding a strong, prosperous, crime-reduced, illegal-evicted nation. And when that vision comes to pass, if it does, we have a moral responsibility to help other countries, not with immigration but intelligent intervention. First we save our neighbor. Read Chesterton. Then we are strong to help others stay in their countries and improve them. That's Catholicism. Like when the oxygen masks fall down in planes.; 10/5/25, 2:01 PM
Disparity of Cult said...: @Lazarus, maybe Charlie Sachsen-Coburg; 10/5/25, 2:04 PM
rehajm said...: …for the record I was confirmed in the catholic church…; 10/5/25, 2:10 PM
Jim at said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/5/25, 2:40 PM
ccscientist said...: How about the pope urge people to follow the law? Illegal migrants are getting tens of thousands of dollars in free stuff like medical care and schooling for kids, taking it from tax payers.; 10/5/25, 2:43 PM
Shouting Thomas said...: “One cannot forgive such an stinking turd of paranoid nonsense and toxic xenophobia.”

I hereby toss a virtual sombrero on Cookie’s head. Can you hear the mariachi music, Cookie?; 10/5/25, 2:46 PM
Mason G said...: "Then we are strong to help others stay in their countries and improve them."

If those countries are in such poor shape that people are fleeing them, perhaps we should be extra careful about who (if any) among the fleeing are allowed to come here. We don't need those who helped to turn those places into shitholes coming to this country and screwing things up here.; 10/5/25, 2:50 PM
Beasts of England said...: ’We don't need those who helped to turn those places into shitholes coming to this country and screwing things up here.’

In a nutshell. They can stay in their own countries and clean up their own mess. Not my clowns, not my circus.; 10/5/25, 3:13 PM
Mrs. X said...: You first, Pope. Open your arms, your heart and your Vatican City. I’ll wait.; 10/5/25, 3:53 PM
Ronald J. Ward said...: Hombre, I appreciate the diagnosis, though my cognition seems to be doing fine — it just prefers data over slogans.

And JAORE, that Biden “surge to the border” quote is one of the most misused lines out there. What he actually said in 2019 was that people fleeing persecution should be able to apply for asylum, and that we should treat them humanely when they do. It wasn’t an open invitation; it was a comment about the right to seek asylum, which is a legal process under U.S. and international law.

Every administration — including Trump’s — has seen spikes in crossings. Migration responds to push factors like violence, drought, and collapsed economies, not campaign sound bites.
We can disagree on policy, but pretending one party “opened” or “closed” the border is just not how it works. Reality’s a bit more stubborn than that.; 10/5/25, 4:03 PM
Old and slow said...: Ronald, no one is buying the nonsense you are trying to push. Biden opened the border, and Trumps has shut the door. No new legislation was needed, just the will to enforce existing laws.; 10/5/25, 4:09 PM
narciso said...: Thalosian Mayorkas, who built the cages at Homeland, made it happen; 10/5/25, 4:25 PM
john mosby said...: Speaking of popes and politics: this morning at DC’s RC cathedral, ahead of the Red Mass for lawyers and judges on the Sunday before the SCOTUS term starts, a man was arrested with explosives:

https://www.cnn.com/2025/10/05/politics/man-arrested-possessing-explosives-church-service-supreme-court

CC, JSM; 10/5/25, 4:26 PM
narciso said...: thats probably nothing, yikes; 10/5/25, 4:32 PM
Peachy said...: John Mosby - 4:26 - Ooo he had a Molotov cocktail.
Sure he was a "right-winger!"; 10/5/25, 4:40 PM
tcrosse said...: Your Holiness, concerning immigration, if you don't play the game you don't get to make the rules.; 10/5/25, 5:05 PM
narciso said...: he is as much addressing meloni and orban, as with Trump; 10/5/25, 5:12 PM
narciso said...: https://x.com/davereaboi/status/1974839733151772820; 10/5/25, 5:44 PM
Achilles said...: Before X the globalist that own the Catholic Church and most of the governments in the world were able to run their propaganda unopposed.

When it was twitter it colluded with the US government, facebook, microsoft and Google to maintain the Overton window where elites moved cheap labor wherever they needed it.

Now X is allowing peoples of individual nations to maintain their national identities and to look to their own welfare.

Notice how all of the leftists idiots on this board support higher taxes on Americans but are aghast that taxes on multinational corporations have been imposed.

Now that millions of democrat voters are being deported out of the Blue cities look for a new political equilibrium to form.; 10/5/25, 6:07 PM
Mason G said...: "Now that millions of democrat voters are being deported out of the Blue cities look for a new political equilibrium to form."

There's rioting going on in some Blue cities, they don't appear to be interested in a new political equilibrium.

Democrats opposed to democracy that they don't control? Say it ain't so!; 10/5/25, 7:01 PM
Martin said...: "Why would a Pope, of all people, do that?"
Because he is more Socialist than Christian. He is more concerned about Trump being president than leading his Church. South America is where Liberation Theology grew up. It is more concerned with worldly politics and "social justice" than bringing people to Christ. He clearly spent a lot of time steeping in that mess.; 10/5/25, 7:18 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 10/5/25, 7:53 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: in much of the West, they will fall for this script, it takes an Archbishop Sarah to actually cling to the faith, same with Archbishop Vigano, who the last pope excommunicated,
or the one down in Tyler Texas
Now that the Church of England has an Archbishop of Canterbury who is a Sarah, you are going to have to be more specific in your pontificating.; 10/5/25, 7:54 PM
mishu said...: I have Emma Lazarus fatigue. Over the last 30+ years, immigrants haven't been plucky individuals with hopes and dreams. Their either visa holders or entered illegally that enable employers drive down wages.; 10/5/25, 8:36 PM