“Oh, how I would like a poor Church, and for the poor,” he told reporters soon after his election as pope.
He visited islands off Italy and Greece where refugees were making the perilous journey from Libya, Syria and surrounding countries. He helped resettle several refugee families in Italy and encouraged other Catholics to stand up for migrants.
“As people of faith, we wish to join our voices to speak out on your behalf,” Francis said, addressing migrants. “We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and indeed desperate need, and respond in a way worthy of our common humanity.”
He also spoke out against the Donald Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts in the U.S. In a letter sent to U.S. bishops in early 2025, he asked “not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters” while likening today’s migrants to Jesus, Mary and Joseph fleeing violence to Egypt.
As he worked to encourage Catholics’ outreach to the world, the pope also faced criticism within his own flock. In the U.S., a small wing of doctrine-minded conservatives pushed back against Francis’ welcoming brand of Catholicism, insisting that the pope’s approach to some issues ― such as distributing the Eucharist to divorced, remarried couples ― could have the effect of muddying long-standing church teachings.
Francis acknowledged his conservative opponents in 2019, saying, “For me, it’s an honor if the Americans attack me.” He lamented that people promoting schisms have allowed ideology to become “detached” from Catholic doctrine.
“Doing this, you lose the true tradition and you turn to ideologies to have support. In other words, ideologies replace faith,” Francis told Portuguese Jesuits of the U.S. Catholic Church in a private meeting in August 2023.
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