MAGA Escalates Attacks on Christians After Pope Leo Defends Migrants

As Pope Leo calls Trump’s raids “inhuman,” the movement that once claimed faith is now waging war against it.

A newly released video shows a federal agent firing a pepper ball into a crowd of immigration protesters and striking a Chicago pastor in the head.

The clergyman, Rev. David Black, was wearing a Roman collar and fell to the ground as others rushed to help.

He survived, but the shocking footage — taken at a September ICE protest in suburban Chicago — underscores the escalating conflict between President Donald Trump’s MAGA movement and Christian leaders.

The incident occurred amid heightened immigration raids under Trump, which have provoked daily tense demonstrations in Chicago.

The ACLU, noting that Black is part of a lawsuit, decried these aggressive tactics as “illegal and brutal suppression” of First Amendment rights.

Though Black is a Presbyterian minister, his Roman collar (often associated with Catholic priests) raised concerns about whether clergy are being targeted in the crackdown.

Pope’s Pro-Migrant Stance Triggers MAGA Fury

Beyond the streets, a war of words is intensifying between MAGA influencers and the Vatican.

On Sunday, Pope Leo XIV — the first American pope — took a bold stand in defense of migrants through a series of statements on social media and a homily in St. Peter’s Square.

Leo insisted, urging that human dignity must always come first.

He celebrated a Mass for the Jubilee of Migrants, where he lamented the “tragedy” faced by refugee families and warned that those desperate boats seeking a safe harbor “must not find the coldness of indifference.”

These compassionate remarks, challenging Trump’s hardline immigration raids, infuriated MAGA conservatives.

The backlash was swift and ugly: MAGA influencers accused the pope of Marxism and peddled conspiracy tropes, enraged that he dared to link pro-life values with treating migrants humanely.

In short, Trump’s allies unleashed a coordinated anti-Catholic assault, condemning Leo for what they see as political meddling in support of immigrants.

A Long-Brewing Confrontation

This confrontation has been building for months.

From the outset of Leo’s pontificate in May, Trump-aligned activists have bristled at the new pope’s forthright moral critiques.

Even before his election, then-Cardinal Robert Prevost (now Pope Leo) openly challenged prominent MAGA figures.

He reposted articles disputing Vice President JD Vance’s claim that Christians should “rank our love for others” by tribe, and he slammed Trump’s flirtation with using a Salvadoran prison (notorious for human-rights abuses) to detain U.S.-bound migrants.

Those blunt interventions provoked immediate outrage from MAGA voices like Laura Loomer and Charlie Kirk, who derided Leo as “anti-Trump” and a “globalist.”

That early discontent festered after his May 8 election, setting the stage for today’s full-frontal clashes.

Once in office, Pope Leo continued to defy MAGA expectations.

Over the summer, he condemned American military escalation abroad — when U.S. forces bombed Iran’s nuclear sites, Leo warned that war risked opening an “irreparable abyss” and pleaded for diplomacy to “silence the weapons.”

Domestically, he has repeatedly rebuked Trump’s immigration agenda on moral grounds.

Just last week, Leo pointed out that anyone who “cheers the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States” cannot call themselves truly pro-life.

He noted the hypocrisy of politicians who oppose abortion yet champion harsh border crackdowns – a direct challenge to the Trump movement’s platform.

These remarks echoed his consistent theme: pro-life values must extend beyond the womb to how society treats the vulnerable, whether prisoners, the poor, or migrant families.

Today, those principled critiques have put Leo on a collision course with the MAGA movement.

In fact, just hours ago in Rome, he met with a delegation of U.S. Catholic bishops and migrant advocates to discuss Trump’s latest deportation blitz.

Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso presented the pope with letters from terrified immigrant families and videos of federal agents’ “combative” raids.

Visibly moved, Leo vowed to “stand with” these families and urged the entire U.S. bishops’ conference to speak out forcefully against the crackdown. He thanked church leaders for defending immigrant communities and made clear that silence is not an option when basic human dignity is at stake.

Catholic parishes have reported Trump’s dragnet sowing terror — families afraid to go to the grocery store or even to church, as immigration agents conduct brazen sweeps that have separated children from parents. Faced with this reality, Pope Leo is rallying the Church to be a voice for the voiceless, even if it means a direct showdown with the President.

In line with his papal motto “In Illo uno unum,” meaning “In the One, we are one,” Leo has rooted his leadership in the Augustinian vision of unity.

He insists that the Church cannot allow partisan culture-war rage to divide its core mission.

For Pope Leo and the Catholics who support him, defending migrants, the poor, and the persecuted is not a political ploy but a Gospel mandate — one that transcends partisan allegiances and binds all Christians together in solidarity.

As the Letters from Leo community, we refuse to let MAGA hardliners hijack our faith or define who belongs.

Inspired by Leo’s courageous witness — which stands in continuity with his predecessors — we remain united in proclaiming that to be truly pro-life means protecting all that is fragile and wounded in our midst.

Trump’s escalating attacks on Christians and migrants may continue, but Catholics faithful to the Gospel will only double down on unity and hope in response.

Letters from Leo is open to anyone who wants to be informed and inspired by our pope — and to turn that inspiration into action that leaves America and the world more just, less cold, and more alive with hope.

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Thank you for reading. I’ll see you on the road.