Pope Francis ‘takes aim at every single absurd theological claim by JD Vance’ in scathing letter

Pope Francis has written an open letter to US Bishops in which he heavily criticises the anti-migrant stance taken by president Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance since the former was inaugurated on 20 January.

In the letter, which also appeared to take direct aim at Vice President JD Vance’s defense of the current anti-migrant crackdown on theological grounds, the Pope slammed the Trump administration’s plans for mass deportations of migrants, stating that it deprives people of their inherent dignity and “will end badly.”

The letter comes in the wake of huge protests against ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) and Donald Trump, which took place in LA on February 2 in response to Trump’s crackdown on immigration, which has seen him sign a flurry of executive orders mandating a greater military presence at the U.S-Mexico border and removing restrictions that Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) were previously subjected to.

Under the new order, ICE is now allowed to target migrants at previously designated ‘safe haven’ locations like schools and churches for arrest and deportation.

JD Vance, who is Catholic, has used a medieval Catholic concept known as “ordo amoris” – meaning “the order of love” – to justify the crackdown, claiming that the idea behind ordo amoris is that there is a hierarchy of care: to family first, followed by neighbours, then community, then fellow citizens, and finally those from other lands.

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests”

The Pope, however, appeared to have no time for this defence, writing in his letter: “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups.

“The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan,’ that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”

The Associated Press reports that the director of the center for religion and culture at Fordham University, David Gibson, said in a social media post that Francis’ letter “takes aim at every single absurd theological claim by JD Vance and his allies in conservative Catholicism (and the Catholic electorate).”

The anti-migrant crackdown isn’t the only Trump-Vance policy to come under fire from the Vatican recently.

On Monday (10 February), the Vatican’s charity Caritas International – a confederation of 162 national Catholic relief, development and social service organisations operating in over 200 countries – warned that millions of people could die as a result of the “ruthless” decision to “recklessly” stop funding the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

USAID is the world’s largest provider of food assistance. Its entire website is offline at the time of writing. Trump previously attacked the aid agency’s leadership saying they were a “bunch of radical lunatics.” 

The Pope is also not the only faith leader to publicly take on Donald Trump and JD Vance. On Tuesday 21 January, at the Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Mariann Edgar Budde spoke during Trump’s inaugural prayer service and pleaded for him to show mercy to minority groups. 

President Trump was present and watched the sermon alongside first lady Melania Trump, vice president JD Vance and second lady Usha Vance. 

“In the name of our God, I ask you to have mercy upon the people in our country who are scared now,” Budde said. 

“They are gay, lesbian, and transgender children in Democratic, Republican, and independent families, some who fear for their lives,” she continued, before calling for mercy toward immigrants too.

She subsequently received death threats from MAGA supporters.

Does the Pope support LGBTQ+ rights?

Pope Francis is very clear on his stance when it comes to refugees and migrants, making it a central focus of his pontificate and citing the biblical command to “welcome the stranger.” However, his stance on LGBTQ+ rights is far more mixed, controversial and conflicted.

In May last year,  Pope Francis is alleged to have used a homophobic slur during a meeting with bishops about allowing celibate gay men to train as priests.

In the behind-closed-doors meeting, the pontiff is believed to have said there was already too much “frociaggine” in seminaries, an Italian word which roughly translates as f****t. The Vatican released an apology, insisting that the pope is a supporter of the LGBTQ+ community.

He was more positive about gay priests in 2013, saying “If [gay priests] accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalised. The tendency [same-sex attraction] is not the problem… they’re our brothers.”

However, he reiterated his support for Catholic Church’s universal catechism, which states that while being gay is not sinful, homosexual acts are.

He’s also made positive gestures towards transgender rights. In 2023, he said trans people can take part in Catholic practices such as being baptised and acting as godparents or witnesses to marriage, under the same conditions as any other adult.

In the past, Pope Francis welcomed trans women, along with 1,000 poor and homeless guests, to a Vatican lunch to mark the Catholic Church’s World Day of the Poor. 

He also met with a trans group in the Vatican in 2022. Sister Genevieve Jeanningros and local priest Andrea Conocchia reportedly said the meetings had given the group hope.

Unfortunately, and confusingly, the pontiff has also made it clear he’s a fan of the gender binary, describing so-called gender ideology as one of the “most dangerous colonisations”  explaining: “the question of gender is diluting the differences and making the world the same, all dull, all alike”, adding: “Because it blurs differences and the value of men and women, [it] is contrary to the human vocation.”

In short, it seems unlikely Pope Francis will be writing a similar letter criticising Donald Trump’s anti-trans crackdown any time soon.