NEW: Amid Trump’s ICE Crackdown, Pope Leo Meets with California Bishops in Rome
In a rare audience, the American pope hears from U.S. bishops about raids terrorizing immigrant families.
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Yesterday, Los Angeles Archbishop José H. Gomez and Orange County’s Bishop Kevin Vann were granted a private audience with Pope Leo.
Ordinarily, diocesan bishops see the pope during ad limina visits, which occur once every five years, when they pray at the tombs of the apostles and present reports directly to the Holy Father.
This off‑cycle meeting — just three months into Leo’s pontificate — is a stark sign of the urgency gripping Southern California.
The crisis began in early June when, on the orders of President Trump and his Administration, ICE agents swept through sidewalks, parking lots, and even parish grounds.
To respond, Los Angeles Catholics began delivering groceries and meals to families too afraid to leave their homes, while donations from wealthier parishes sustained the food banks.
Isaac Cuevas, the archdiocese’s immigration director, said the Church and Archbishop Gomez are doing all they can to recognize “strangers among us” and assure them they’re seen.
When agents even detained people in church parking lots, San Bernardino’s Bishop Alberto Rojas issued a rare decree dispensing undocumented Catholics from the Sunday Mass obligation — something usually reserved for natural disasters and national emergencies.
Archbishop Gomez has been equally direct. On June 6, he condemned the raids for provoking fear and urged his community to show “restraint and calm,” while calling on Congress to fix a broken immigration system.
Seeing parishioners trapped indoors, he launched a Family Assistance Program that delivers hot meals, groceries, and prescriptions, stressing that those targeted are “good, hardworking men and women.”
The fund provides direct support for families suffering financial hardship and relies on parish networks that know their people’s needs.
Bishop Vann has also adapted. While he has not granted a blanket dispensation, priests in his diocese now bring the Eucharist to people’s homes, so fearful parishioners can receive the Eucharist without risking arrest.
In a pastoral letter, Vann and his auxiliary bishops called the raids “our worst instincts” and warned that they spread “crippling fear and anxieties upon the hard‑working, everyday faithful among us.”
This is the context Pope Leo stepped into.
The first American pope spent years as a missionary in Peru and understands the migrant’s plight. His early homilies urge Catholics to be missionaries of mercy rather than scapegoat immigrants.
By granting a private audience to Gomez and Vann outside the normal schedule, he signaled that he intends to confront the deportation apparatus and support bishops who are defending their flock.
The outcomes of the meeting remain to be seen, but the message is unmistakable. The Vatican will likely amplify its critique of raids that tear apart families and insist on humane reforms.
The audience may embolden Gomez and Vann to expand aid programs, coordinate legal assistance, and press harder for policy change.
It also sends a signal to Catholics everywhere: this is not a parochial dispute, but a moral test for the universal Church.
When bishops who normally wait years for a papal audience are ushered in within months, the Church is telling us to pay attention and stand with those living in fear.
Letters from Leo exist solely because of your generosity. If you find value in my work, please become a paid subscriber today.
Subscriptions start at just $6.67/month, and include full access to:
My ongoing series on Faith and the Democratic Party
The multi-part deep dive into Pope Leo’s life and formation
The latest installments:
Part IV (published Sunday) explores Pope Leo’s 20-year friendship with Pope Francis.
Part V (published Wednesday) profiles his closest cardinal confidant, Luis Antonio Tagle.
Do you prefer a one-time gift? Donate here instead of subscribing.
Thank you for sharing! I want to do a piece later this month about how the bishops are taking way more action during Trump’s second than Trump’s first term. My one sentence theory is that twelve years of Pope Francis appointing US bishops changed the nature of episcopacy here.
“By granting a private audience to Gomez and Vann outside the normal schedule, he signaled that he intends to confront the deportation apparatus and support bishops who are defending their flock.”
~Thank God…and thank Pope Leo…🙏🌷❤️