Pope Leo XIV Backs Summit Defending Migrants’ Dignity
In a message to an interfaith summit hosted by CLINIC, he urged leaders to resist indifference and see Christ in those seeking refuge.
On October 29, 2026, Pope Leo XIV sent a special message of support to an interfaith immigration policy summit hosted by the Catholic Legal Immigration Network (CLINIC). The virtual gathering runs October 29–30 and brings together faith leaders, legal practitioners, advocates, and scholars from Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish traditions to identify shared ways of serving immigrant communities.
The Holy Father thanked CLINIC "together with the many people, families, civic bodies and church communities who strive to uphold the dignity of migrants and refugees." He stated: "Too often, these most vulnerable members of society are caught in situations which strip them of their human rights — an injustice that cries out to heaven."
He added: "It is my hope, therefore, that this summit will encourage the participants to stir the hearts and minds of their fellow citizens to overcome that indifference and detachment which reduces the human person to a statistic." The Pope said he would pray that the meeting "will help find new ways to awaken consciences to our shared moral duty for these brothers and sisters of ours, who, as Sacred Scripture and the saints untiringly remind us, are Christ visiting us in disguise."
Faith Leaders Respond
Speaking at the summit, Gallagher said, "We are here to learn from one another, to strengthen our work, and to consider how we can help our communities see more clearly and respond more faithfully." She noted that "the Holy Father’s message asks us to resist the indifference that reduces a person to a statistic," adding that "those of us who work in communications, law, ministry, or advocacy know how easily that reduction happens."
Legal and Pastoral Context
The meeting comes shortly after a divided panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia allowed a lawsuit by a coalition of more than two dozen religious organizations to proceed. The suit challenges a Trump administration policy that rescinded long-standing restrictions on arrests at sensitive locations, including schools and hospitals, with exceptions for public safety or national security threats.
It also follows a lawsuit filed by the Archdiocese of St. Louis against a federal policy the archdiocese says bars priests from distributing Communion to and hearing confessions of Catholics detained by ICE.
A joint report from the National Association of Evangelicals, USCCB Migration and Refugee Services, the Center for the Study of Global Christianity at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and World Relief estimates that more than 10 million Christians in the United States would be vulnerable to deportation under 2025 Trump administration policies, 61 percent of them Catholic. The same report finds that more than one in six Catholics are either vulnerable themselves or could see a family member deported, barring law or policy changes.
The Pope’s message places the summit’s work within the Church’s constant teaching on the dignity of every person and the Gospel call to welcome the stranger, calling participants to concrete solidarity with migrants and refugees.