I am a devout Roman Catholic and a staunch supporter of Donald Trump, who I believe is the best U.S. president of my lifetime. Like many American Catholics, on some political and social matters, I sometimes feel torn between my support for President Trump’s agenda and certain messages coming from the Vatican. Nowhere is this conflict more pronounced than on the issue of mass illegal immigration into the USA and how that issue does or does not embody the mercy taught by Jesus Christ.

It is not an exaggeration to say that Pope Francis showed great antipathy towards the USA, Donald Trump, and conservative American Catholics, but as an American ascends to the papacy as Pope Leo XIV, I believe now is an appropriate time to reflect. I am writing to offer hope on how each of us (including President Trump and Pope Leo XIV) can reconcile this seeming conflict in our own minds and in the minds of others.

In case you have been living under a rock, one of Donald Trump’s key campaign promises in all three of his presidential campaigns was to reverse mass illegal immigration, thereby creating economic and other benefits for American citizens. As he said in a campaign speech in Uniondale, New York, on September 18, 2024:

“Look at what’s happening, businesses that are fleeing, money draining out of your state, and hundreds of thousands of illegal migrants sucking your public resources dry. I’ve always heard, for 20 years, I’ve heard that New York City has no money, and yet they’re going to spend $3 billion on illegal migrants. And they’re not getting it from the federal government. You wonder, they never had money, but they have $3 billion to take care of people that came into our country illegally. Doesn’t make sense.”

Pope Francis spoke deeply and often in stark opposition to President Trump’s position. In an apostolic letter to all American Catholic bishops months before his death, Francis wrote:

“I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of good will, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. With charity and clarity, we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all.”

Enter Pope Leo XIV, whose ascendancy has triggered wild conjecture that he is as “woke” as Pope Francis and shares his views on illegal immigration. Backing this conjecture up is a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) by the former Cardinal Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo XIV), criticizing Vice President J.D. Vance for ostensibly suggesting that Christianity requires a tiered approach to love and mercy, where we must serve and love American citizens prior to and in preference to illegal aliens. This new pope clearly stands against this concept in his X post, giving rise to great trepidation amongst many of the American Catholic faithful.

And what did Jesus himself have to say on the topic? In Matthew 5:7, Jesus states, “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall be shown mercy.” In Matthew 25:35-36, Jesus further states:

“For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.”

These Biblical quotes and other Scripture from the Old and New Testaments have given rise to a belief in many Catholic circles that President Trump’s policies on illegal immigration are incompatible with Jesus’ teachings on mercy.

So, what is a MAGA Catholic to do? Well, my answer is this: rest easy, your faith and your patriotism are not in conflict; it just seems that way thanks to a mainstream media overtly eager to wrest all Christians away from support for President Trump and his MAGA agenda.

It also probably feels that way thanks to Pope Francis’ constant and seemingly malicious attacks on American Catholics who sought to honor the traditions of their faith, calling them “backward” and possessing “a very strong, organized, reactionary attitude.” You won’t find me defending Francis for this—far from it, I believe he did incalculable damage to the faith with such comments. However, our new pope—although appointed by Francis—is not Francis, and he will be his own man. As I have told my Catholic friends and family constantly in the past few days, give the man a chance. The weight of the papacy can change a man, and the history of Catholicism is full of popes who served in a manner completely opposite from what was expected. Popes are kind of like U.S. Supreme Court justices—whoever thought John Roberts would save Obamacare?

So, in the spirit of “giving the man a chance,” I have some advice for all of us that I believe can draw MAGA and the Catholic Church closer together in intent and policy.

1. First, for President Trump: Please stop gloating in the face of deportations!!! Stunts like posting the faces of deportees on White House lawn signs give your Catholic supporters pause and make some of them believe you are, in fact, a man without Jesus’ mercy.

Yes, I know those men on those signs are violent criminals. I am not one of those people who hate your “mean Tweets”; quite the contrary, I consider them to be one of the most important aspects of your political ascendancy. You have taken Saul Alinsky’s rule about ridicule and turned it against leftists, shaming and mocking the powerful among them to great effect. I love that. But those men on the lawn signs? They have families, and those families are not powerful; they are powerless. Jesus mocked the powerful (i.e., the Pharisees or “you brood of vipers”), but never mocked the powerless.

Do what you need to do, as you are showing mercy to American citizens (which is why we elected you), but please further your own efforts by tempering your glee over necessary things that happen to the powerless. American Catholics need to understand that your policies ARE merciful—don’t give them reason to think otherwise, please.

1. Next, for Pope Leo XIV: Please know the damage that your predecessor has done to the American Catholic Church. You lead a global flock, but your predecessor made us feel that we were an unwelcome part of that flock. I know you are an American, but you have spent many of your recent years in Peru and the Vatican, and you may be unaware just how alienated we feel. Imprudent attacks on the immigration policy, which was the top issue in the 2024 American presidential election, will only worsen this unfortunate divide.
2. More for you, Your Holiness: Remember what Saint John Paul II said about national borders: “The term ‘nation’ designates a community based in a given territory and distinguished by its culture. Catholic social doctrine holds that the family and the nation are both natural societies, not the product of mere convention.” It is not merciful to destroy a nation and a culture, and unchecked illegal immigration across American borders was doing just that, both culturally and economically. Moreover, it is unmerciful to encourage illegal immigration merely so Democrats can pay sub-minimum wage to their nannies and lawn guys. Illegal immigration is unmerciful to the illegal immigrants as well as American citizens. President Trump’s policies are enacting a degree of mercy that your predecessor refused to acknowledge. Does Heaven open its borders to Hell? There are rules to enter Heaven, just as there are rules on Earth to enter sovereign nations. Shakespeare said, “The quality of mercy is not strained,” and that applies to ALL forms of mercy.
3. Last one for you, Your Holiness, and it’s not about the USA, but it is worth saying now. Unchecked Islamic immigration into Europe—the seat of the Roman Catholic Church—seeks to destroy the rich history and practice of European Christianity. Surely it is not merciful to destroy your own church?
4. For all you MAGA Catholics: Why are you surprised that the Catholic Church would preach mercy on the matter of immigration? The Vatican does not make our laws; the U.S. Congress and the President do. The Vatican proposes a spiritual framework for the decisions that actual worldly rulers must make. Yes, refugees fleeing genuine persecution are worthy of mercy. It is not surprising that a pope might frame that message in one of mercy for ALL immigrants, even illegal ones. The Church merely informs the application of mercy; it is up to our elected leaders to engage in policies that serve that mercy in a practical manner, and in that regard I see no conflict between the USA’s policies on immigration and the policies of the Catholic Church.

In fact, and as I said above, I believe this is a false dilemma created by an unethical, lying American mass media that seeks to chase Catholics and other Christians away from support for our president. After all, even Pope Francis said, “ . . . one must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival.” Did you already know he said that? The American media did not want you to.

Worry not, please: Catholicism and MAGA are wholly compatible, as they both bring order to a world built on mercy.

1. Finally, for all of us: America is a nation built on immigrants. Legal immigrants. America encourages and loves legal immigration. No country in world history has ever before been as charitable as the USA, nor has any country ever been built so successfully on wave after wave of legal immigration. America is a merciful nation. We really do want the “huddled masses, yearning to breathe free.” But we want them in the most merciful way possible: legally. That is mercy, American mercy—honor that, and revel in it.

MAGA and Catholicism are wholly compatible when it comes to mercy. Both seek to elevate mercy as a guiding principle, but in an ordered fashion that recognizes sovereignty and national borders. Rest easy, American Catholics, and please give Pope Leo XIV a chance. I believe he will honor the formal teachings of the Church on immigration and will seek to create the unity in the Church that Pope Francis seemed so eager to tear apart.

Cynical Publius is the nom de plume of a cradle Roman Catholic, retired U.S. Army colonel, and veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, who is now a practicing corporate law attorney. You can follow Cynical Publius on X at @CynicalPublius.