Chicago-born Pope Leo XIV called for “deep reflection” when reacting to news that agents from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security refused to allow faith leaders inside the Broadview ICE facility to give people holy communion.
A delegation of clergy said they were at the facility this past weekend for the Catholic Feast of All Saints, but were not allowed inside.
While speaking with reporters outside his home in Rome Tuesday, the pope said spiritual rights should be respected.
“We’re going to be asked, you know, how did you receive the foreigner?” he said. “Did you receive him and welcome him or not? And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening/ Many people who’ve lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now.”
Pope Leo has been openly critical of the federal government’s treatment of immigrants and even made a plea for the world to help protect them.