Pope Francis offers prayers for Trump after criticizing immigration stance

VATICAN CITY (LifeSiteNews) — Pope Francis has sent a message welcoming and promising prayers to Donald Trump on the day of his inauguration, expressing the hope that the new president will lead America to prosperity.

“On the occasion of your inauguration as the forty-seventh President of the United States of America, I offer cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection in the exercise of your high duties,” wrote Pope Francis.

NEW: Pope Francis sends message to @realDonaldTrump, offering his “cordial greetings and the assurance of my prayers that Almighty God will grant you wisdom, strength and protection in the exercise of your high duties.”

Full message in image below pic.twitter.com/Rq3g4gRHZx

— Michael Haynes 🇻🇦 (@MLJHaynes) January 20, 2025

The Pope’s message to Donald Trump was issued on the day of Trump’s inauguration as the 47th President of the United States, and comes as the Vatican looks ahead to a new era of diplomatic relations with the White House under Trump.

Continuing, Francis wrote:

Inspired by your nation’s ideals of being a land of opportunity and welcome for all, 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.

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. With these sentiments, I invoke upon you, your family, and the beloved American people an abundance of divine blessings.

Francis’ message was much more diplomatic than in comments he made toward the president during a live television appearance in Italy last night.

Appearing on the Che Tempo Che Fa program on January 19, Francis severely critiqued reports of Trump’s plan to deport illegal immigrants. “This, if true, will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing pay the bill for the imbalance,” said Francis.

“It won’t do! This is not the way to solve things. That’s not how things are resolved,” the Pontiff added.

Francis has made championing the cause of immigration one of the key themes of his pontificate, though without differentiating between legal and illegal immigration.

He has a number of times stated that opposing immigration is a “grave sin.” Speaking off the cuff during a weekly audience in August, Francis stated:

It must be said clearly: there are those who work systematically and with every means possible to repel migrants – to repel migrants. And this, when done with awareness and responsibility, is a grave sin.

In contrast, Trump has promised swift and sweeping measures to tackle the rising tide of immigration into the U.S. During his pre-inauguration rally last night, he decried the “invasion” of the American borders and promised strident measures against this, which would be outlined in his speech today.

Addressing the huge crowd in Washington D.C., Trump promised he would present “the most aggressive, sweeping effort to restore our borders the world has ever seen.”

“By the time the sun sets tomorrow evening, the invasion of our borders will have come to a halt and all the illegal border trespassers will, in some form or another, be on their way back home,” he added.

Such rhetoric has been opposed both by Francis personally, but also by his new Archbishop of Washington. On January 6, Francis named Cardinal Robert McElroy as Archbishop of Washington, in a move which has not only raised eyebrows but caused significant controversy.

McElroy has announced he will oppose strong immigration measures, the like of which Trump has promised. Any such mass deportation of illegal immigrants would be “incompatible with Catholic doctrine,” said McElroy on January 7.

The Catholic Church’s teaching regarding immigration is a careful mix of charity to the citizens of a nation and those seeking entrance to that nation for just reasons. The Catechism of the Catholic Church notes that “political authorities, for the sake of the common good for which they are responsible, may make the exercise of the right to immigrate subject to various juridical conditions, especially with regard to the immigrants’ duties toward their country of adoption.”

Furthermore, the Catechism outlines that “immigrants are obliged to respect with gratitude the material and spiritual heritage of the country that receives them, to obey its laws and to assist in carrying civic burdens.”

Such a teaching was expounded upon in 2011 by Pope Benedict XVI in his message for the 97th World Day of Migrants and Refugees. While quoting from Pope John Paul II to defend the “possibility” for people “to enter another country to look for better conditions of life,” Benedict also defended the rights of the home nations to restrict such entries:

At the same time, States have the right to regulate migration flows and to defend their own frontiers, always guaranteeing the respect due to the dignity of each and every human person. Immigrants, moreover, have the duty to integrate into the host Country, respecting its laws and its national identity.

Indeed, prior to this, John Paul II wrote for the same occasion in 2001 that the exercise of the “right to emigrate … is to be regulated, because practicing it indiscriminately may do harm and be detrimental to the common good of the community that receives the migrant.”