Pope Leo Invokes First US Saint in Immigration Message
Pope Leo XIV used a visit Saturday honoring St. Frances Xavier Cabrini — the first American saint and patroness of migrants — to deliver his most pointed appeal yet on behalf of immigrants, asking Catholics to look to her example as migration remains one of the defining issues of his emerging papacy. The remarks, delivered in the northern Italian town where Cabrini was born, come amid months of public friction with President Donald Trump over immigration and foreign policy.
A Visit Steeped in Symbolism
The Pope traveled to Sant’Angelo Lodigiano, a small Lombard town south of Milan, as part of a pastoral journey to nearby Pavia. There, he venerated a relic of St. Cabrini’s heart brought from the congregation’s motherhouse in nearby Codogno and led an evening prayer service in the Parish of Santi Antonio Abate e Francesca Cabrini, according to Vatican News.
“I am here to pay homage to Mother Cabrini,” the Pope told local civic and religious authorities, noting that she was “born here in Sant’Angelo Lodigiano in 1850 and died in Chicago, my hometown, in 1917.”
Cabrini, who became a naturalized U.S. citizen and founded 67 institutions including schools, hospitals and orphanages for Italian immigrants, was canonized in 1946 and named Patroness of Migrants in 1950. Her life was dramatized in the 2024 film “Cabrini,” which Pope Leo has reportedly enjoyed.
”What Could Be More Relevant Today?”
During the service, Pope Leo framed Cabrini’s missionary work as a direct challenge to the present moment. “What could be more relevant today than a missionary charism dedicated to serving migrants?” he asked, as Fox News reported.
The Pope also invoked his predecessor, Pope Francis, who as the son of Italian immigrants made service to migrants a defining priority of his pontificate. “Let us ask ourselves: if Mother Francesca were alive today, what would her missionary spirit tell her? And what would a pope like Francis ask of her?” Leo said.
Quoting Cabrini’s own words, the Pope recalled her conviction that “no work would be too difficult, no land too distant, and no person too wounded” for the love of the Heart of Jesus, according to OSV News.
A Papacy Defined by Migration Advocacy
Saturday’s visit is the latest in a series of migration-focused appearances that have come to define Leo’s first year as pope. Just over a week earlier, he traveled to Spain’s Canary Islands, a major destination for African migrants, where he met with migrants and urged world leaders to create “legal and safe pathways” for migration, as AP News reported.
The Vatican has also announced that Pope Leo will visit the Italian island of Lampedusa on July 4 — U.S. Independence Day — a date laden with symbolic weight given his American roots. Lampedusa has become one of Europe’s most recognizable migration flashpoints, and the visit echoes Pope Francis’ first trip outside Rome after becoming pope in 2013.
Friction with the Trump Administration
The Pope’s immigration advocacy has drawn sharp criticism from President Trump, who has accused the pontiff of venturing into politics. In April, Trump called Leo “WEAK on Crime, and terrible for Foreign Policy” after the Pope spoke out against war in Iran. Border Czar Tom Homan has also fired back at the Pope over immigration comments, and Secretary of State Marco Rubio visited the Vatican in May amid heightened tensions.
Despite the friction, a new Pew Research Center survey conducted May 26-June 1 finds that 78% of U.S. Catholics view Pope Leo favorably, and 51% say Trump has been too critical of the pontiff. The survey reveals a sharp partisan divide: 89% of Catholic Democrats view Leo favorably compared to 72% of Catholic Republicans.
What to Watch For
With the July 4 Lampedusa visit approaching and U.S.-Vatican tensions showing no signs of easing, Pope Leo’s migration advocacy is likely to remain a central feature of his papacy. By invoking St. Cabrini — a fellow Chicago-connected figure who navigated the legal immigration system of her era — the Pope is framing the immigration debate not merely as a political issue but as a distinctly American Catholic call to conscience.
As he told the young people of Sant’Angelo Lodigiano before departing: “You young people can change the world. We are waiting for you.”