Newly elected Pope Leo XIV gave a loaded one word reply to a journalist when asked about his message to the United States.
At the Vatican on Monday, NewsNation foreign correspondent Robert Sherman asked the American-born pope, “any message for the United States?”
“Many,” the pope replied before adding, “God bless you all.”
Pope Leo XIV hasn’t addressed Trump directly since his election last week, but as a Cardinal he regularly criticized the administration’s immigration policies.
Last month, then-Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost, retweeted a post asking if the administration “see the suffering” caused by their policies.
“As Trump & Bukele use Oval to [laughing emoji] Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” the post read.
Prevost also shared an op-ed from the National Catholic Reporter titled: “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others,” following comments the vice president made in a Fox News interview.
Way back in 2015, Prevost quoted Cardinal Timothy Dolan, archbishop of the New York Archdiocese, from a Washington Post article, posting on his X account at the time: “Cardinal Dolan: Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.”
Given his past criticism of the Trump administration’s immigration policies some social media users believe his succinct response on Monday was a dig at Trump and a signal that he plans to continue speaking about against the administration’s treatment of migrants.
