Pope Leo XIV has met Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who presented him with letters and a video from undocumented immigrants living in the United States.
During their audience in the Vatican, the Pope expressed his deep concern over the impact of U.S. immigration policies under President Donald Trump, stating that “the Church cannot remain silent” in its response to injustice.
Bishop Seitz said the Holy Father was moved by the testimonies he received. “He was very affirming of the work that we are doing in the United States, especially our work directly with immigrants,” he told reporters after the meeting on 8 October. “Our Holy Father is very personally concerned about these matters. He expressed his desire that the U.S. Bishops’ Conference would speak strongly on this issue.”
The bishop described how the Pope had tears in his eyes as he read the letters from migrants, many of whom spoke of fear and uncertainty as immigration enforcement intensifies. “It means a lot to all of us to know of his personal desire that we continue to speak out,” Bishop Seitz added.
Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Hope Border Institute, who accompanied the bishop, said the Pope told them, “The Church cannot stay silent before injustice. You stand with me. And I stand with you.”
The Pope also met a group of about 100 American Catholics involved in migrant ministry on Tuesday evening. He thanked them for their service and reminded them that their mission is to accompany “the smallest, the poorest, the foreigner – everyone,” adding that their work is a sign that “God never abandons us.”
Bishop Seitz, who has served in El Paso since 2013, has frequently drawn attention to the plight of migrants on the U.S.–Mexico border. Speaking before the papal meeting, he warned that many immigrants now live in fear comparable to that experienced under oppressive regimes.
“We have made people who have fled for their lives now live in even greater fear than they faced in their homelands,” he said, criticising mass deportations and immigration raids. He questioned government plans to return refugees to countries such as Cuba, Venezuela and Afghanistan, asking, “Does that mean that crossing the border, seeking refuge in the nation that is made up of immigrants, is now a capital crime?”
The Pope’s remarks follow his earlier warning on 30 September that Catholics must show consistency in defending human life and dignity. “Someone who says that I am against abortion, but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants, I don’t know if that’s pro-life,” he said.
Pope Leo’s meeting with the El Paso delegation highlights a long-standing papal concern for migrants. From Pope Pius XII’s 1952 apostolic constitution Exsul Familia, which defended the rights of displaced persons after the Second World War, to Pope Francis’s repeated appeals on behalf of refugees, the Holy See has consistently upheld the Church’s duty to welcome the stranger and protect the vulnerable.
(Photo credit: HERIKA MARTINEZ/AFP via Getty Images and Vatican Media)
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