In recent months, immigration became a hot topic in the United States due to Donald Trump’s recent crackdowns regarding illegal immigration, which have led to mass deportations and suspensions of refugee settlements.
Immigration has always been a heavily debated topic in the U.S., leading to many around the world forming their own opinions on the matter. One of these people was Pope Francis
On Feb. 10 2025, Pope Francis wrote a letter regarding immigration, titled “Letter of the Holy Father Francis to the Bishops of the United States of America.”
This letter begins with the Jews and their escape from slavery in Egypt, encouraging the reader to compare this story to our current times. It “reaffirm[s] not only our faith in a God, who is always close, incarnate, migrant, and refugee, but also the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person.”
After this parallel, Pope Francis quotes Pope Pius XII, who had also made comments regarding immigration. In his “Apostolic Constitution on the Care of Migrants,” Pope Pius describes the Holy Family as refugees who had to escape their own homeland because of a despicable king.
Pope Francis states that while a country does have the right to defend itself against foreign threats, the act of deporting immigrants who have come here as refugees or looking for a better life harmfully neglects the dignity of man as a whole. He expands on this, saying that the true common good in a government is to be welcoming and to protect everyone, including those who are the poorest and most vulnerable. These mass deportations not only tarnish the dignity of men, but are a kind of force that will only end in a worse outcome.
After stating his opinion on immigration policy, Pope Francis talks about “Christian Love,” in which he describes something that is to be practiced towards all people, not just those we wish to love. He adds that worrying about migration tarnishing any sort of national or personal identity is something that would hurt social life as a whole.
Pope Francis continues with recognizing the American bishops and those who have remained faithful to the Catholic Church. He then finishes the letter by asking Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect migrants who are in fear of their future, whether because of deportation or because of any other fears relating to immigration.
I believe it is worth expanding on the topic of Pope Francis supposedly calling out JD Vance for a mistake he made regarding the definition of “Christian Love.” On Jan. 30, 2025, Vance spoke with Sean Hannity on Fox News, claiming that Christian Love is something that has what I can best describe as a priority list: You must first love your family, community and country before you can have love for the rest of the world.
Vance emphasized this hierarchical understanding of Christian Love in an X post later on, where he sourced the “ordo amoris” to justify his argument of what Christian Love is and claimed that having a hierarchy of love is “basic common sense.” This definition of Christian Love seems to be indirectly corrected in Pope Francis’s letter.
In his letter, Pope Francis gives a different definition of the “ordo amoris,” which he describes as something found by “meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (Luke 10:25-27).” The point of this parable is that we are meant to show kindness to all, which in some ways contradicts JD Vance’s stance on loving based on priority.
JD Vance’s stance on the “ordo amoris” could be his own interpretation of Aquinas’s definition of the order of love in Summa Theologiae II, Question 26. Aquinas states there that love should be measured based on who the person is; the way you love a sibling would be different from the way you love a friend, and we should prioritize family and friends more than others.
It is worth noting, however, that Aquinas’s definition seems to be in the context of more personal relationships between people rather than anything political. Whether or not Aquinas would apply the “ordo amoris” to immigration policies is something we will never know.
No matter your thoughts on immigration in the U.S., I believe Pope Francis has a good point. Our country should be protected from any possible dangers. However, we must remember to show compassion to everyone, just like the Good Samaritan in Jesus’ parable.