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BY TAKING UP THE MIGRANT CAUSE, FRANCIS TOOK ON TRUMP AND VANCE  
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Joan Vennochi
April 21, 2025
The Boston Globe
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_ The pope wanted to be judged as a voice of moral clarity, speaking
out for the marginalized. He made that clear in his fight with Trump
and Vance over immigration. _

Pope Francis received Vice President JD Vance at the Vatican on
Sunday., Vatican Media/Associated Press

 

His final Easter message before death was a powerful call for peace,
love, and charity toward all — especially migrants — and for the
political leaders of the world to lead the way in embracing those
values.

“I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in
our world not to yield to the logic of fear, which only leads to
isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to
help the needy, to fight hunger, and to encourage initiatives that
promote development,” Pope Francis declared in a missive read by
Archbishop Diego Ravelli after the ailing pope greeted the Easter
crowds at St. Peter’s Square.

The forces against Francis’s brand of Catholic theology are
powerful, too — maybe more powerful. Before he died on Easter Monday
at 88, you could say Francis confronted them directly when he met with
Vice President JD Vance,
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who as a representative of President Trump is part of a sweeping
political movement that champions fear and division over hope and
inclusiveness.

That battle, which is dividing America, is also dividing the Catholic
Church. As the cardinals meet to choose Francis’s successor, the
direction of the institution is very much at stake. Will it veer
right, or try to keep alive even a vestige of the spirit of Francis?
 
As all the obituaries conclude, this pope’s legacy is mixed. He
nudged the church toward a more progressive stance on issues like
same-sex marriage, a bigger role for women, and the possibility of
married priests. At least he let that conversation take place.

The hope on the progressive side began the year Francis was elected
pope, when in answer to a question about gay Catholic priests he said,
“If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will,
who am I to judge?”
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mere expression of tolerance in a church known for the opposite on
that topic was norm-shattering. With that papal thought and others
that followed, he infuriated conservatives. But he also frustrated
liberals, who came to see his words as more talk than action. He was
also a disappointment to those who wanted the church to take more
concrete steps to address clergy sexual abuse.

Francis will be judged by conservatives who saw in his words of
tolerance a weakening of church doctrine, and by liberals who yearn
for a church that is kinder, gentler, and more welcoming to all. Soon
enough, with the election of the next pope, we will see what he
attained for the church, and what he could not accomplish.

But in the last months of his life, Francis staked out the grounds
upon which he wanted to be judged, as a voice of moral clarity,
speaking out for the marginalized. He made that clear in his fight
with Trump and Vance over immigration.

Answering a question about Trump’s plans to deport undocumented
immigrants right before his inauguration, Francis said,
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“If true, this will be a disgrace … This is not the way to solve
things.”

Later, he took on Vance after the vice president tried to use Catholic
theology to justify Trump’s immigration policy.

“Just google ordo amoris,” Vance wrote on X on Jan. 30
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That post came after the vice president said in an interview, “You
love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love
your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own
country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of
the world.” With that, Vance was presenting his interpretation of
the “order of love,” or “order of charity,” a concept known as
“ordo amoris.”

No, the pope said to Vance. You got that wrong.

A February letter from Francis to US bishops
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that chastised them for not speaking out against Trump’s immigration
policies included this paragraph:

“Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that
little by little extend to other persons and groups,” wrote the
pope. “In other words: The human person is not a mere individual,
relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings!... 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.”

In his Easter message
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Francis made an even more passionate case for inclusivity, love, and
peace.

“What a great thirst for death, for killing, we witness each day in
the many conflicts raging in different parts of our world!” his
message said. “How much violence we see, often even within families,
directed at women and children! How much contempt is stirred up at
times towards the vulnerable, the marginalized, and migrants!”

He also said, “There can be no peace without freedom of religion,
freedom of thought, freedom of expression and respect for the views of
others.”

If only that could be the final word, not just for the church — but
also for this country.

 

Joan Vennochi is a Globe columnist. She can be reached at
[email protected]. Follow her @joan_vennochi
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* Pope Francis; Christian Love; Migrants; Trump and Vance;
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