The plenary assembly of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops gets underway on Nov. 11, 2025, at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront. First row, left to right: Father Michael J.K. Fuller, general secretary; Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, president, and Archbishop William E. Lori, vice president. / Credit: Jack Haskins/EWTN News
Castel Gandolfo, Italy, Nov 18, 2025 / 15:56 pm (CNA).
Pope Leo XIV said immigrants must be treated with dignity, and he encouraged all people in the United States to heed the bishops’ message on immigration.
“No one has said that the United States should have open borders. I think every country has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” Pope Leo XIV said Nov. 18 outside the papal villa of Castel Gandolfo before returning to Rome after a daylong stay there.
“But when people are living good lives, and many of them for 10, 15, 20 years, to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least — and there’s been some violence, unfortunately — I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they said. I think that I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them.”
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) on Nov. 12 overwhelmingly opposed the indiscriminate mass deportation of immigrants who lack legal status and urged the government to uphold the dignity of migrants.
Speaking in English, the first U.S.-born pope responded to a journalist’s question asking whether the pope could take credit for the bishops’ statement on immigration because U.S. bishops believe the pope has “got their back” on immigration. The pope replied that immigrants must be treated with dignity even if they lack legal status.
“I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have. If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts, there’s a system of justice. I think there are a lot of problems in the system,” the pope said.
In October, the pope used the word “inhuman” to refer to the immigration crackdown in the United States.
When journalists asked about a Chicago-area immigration facility where detainees have been barred from receiving Communion, Pope Leo said: “I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people.”
U.S. bishops met in Baltimore on Nov. 12 to approve a special message on immigration.
“I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it’s a very important statement. I would invite, especially all Catholics, but people of will to listen carefully to what they said,” the pope said.
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