Pope Leo to World Leaders: Reject Lies, Hatred, Division — and Welcome the Stranger
In a soaring Our Lady of Guadalupe homily, the first American pope calls out hatred, falsehood, and domination — and demands nations become places of welcome.
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Pope Leo XIV celebrated the Guadalupe Mass in a crowded St. Peter’s Basilica and delivered an impassioned prayer that doubled as a moral wake-up call to politicians.
He prayed that Mary would “teach the nations… not to divide the world into irreconcilable factions, not to allow hatred to mark their history or lies to write their memory”
He asked her to “show them that authority must be exercised as service and not as domination” and to “instruct their leaders in their duty to safeguard the dignity of every person in all phases of life.”
Finally, the pope pleaded with Mary to make every nation a place “where every person can feel welcome.”
In effect, Pope Leo begged heaven — and by extension, all of us on earth — for an end to the politics of hate and falsehood that tear societies apart.
His urgent plea comes on the heels of a series of papal rebukes to President Trump’s agenda.
In recent months, Leo XIV has not been shy about confronting the president’s signature policies.
When Mr. Trump mocked climate change as “the greatest con job ever”, Pope Leo pointedly blessed a melting glacier and told world leaders to “act with courage” on protecting creation.
Pope Leo to MAGA Climate Skeptics: “Repent”
The pope warned that ridiculing global warming is not courage — it’s contempt for the poor and for God’s world.
When Trump’s administration cracked down on migrant families, Leo thundered that treating immigrants “like garbage” is “a grave crime against humanity.”
Pope Leo: Treating Migrants Like Garbage Is a “Serious Crime”
After weeks of denouncing Trump’s raids, Pope Leo says mistreating migrants is “a grave crime against humanity.”
He even questioned the credibility of Trump’s pro-life claims, noting that no one is truly “pro-life” while cheering for executions or the “inhuman” treatment of immigrants.
Pope Leo: You Can’t Be Pro-Life and Mistreat Migrants
In his Jubilee homily, Leo demanded Catholics open arms to immigrants and reject MAGA’s cold indifference.
And just this week, Pope Leo criticized the Trump administration’s Ukraine “peace plan” for trying to “break apart” the United States’ alliance with Europe — a move Leo sees as a dangerous retreat from our duty to work for peace.
Pope Leo Criticizes Trump’s Ukraine Plan Sidelining Europe
After meeting with Zelenskyy, Leo XIV delivered a pointed critique of Trump’s go-it-alone approach — warning that any plan excluding Europe is “unrealistic” and risks shattering the Western alliance.
In speech after speech, the American pope has shown that he’s unafraid to challenge the lies, cruelty, and division of Trumpism with the truth of the Gospel.
Our Lady of Guadalupe’s feast was a fitting moment for this confrontation.
As I noted in today’s Advent Reflection Series, she is called the patroness of the Americas, revered for uniting people of different races and cultures under her mantle.
Why Mary of Nazareth Still Terrifies Despots
Our Lady of Guadalupe reveals the Mary who crushes serpents, topples empires, and remakes Advent.
By invoking Mary’s intercession, Pope Leo effectively placed the soul of our nation under her protection.
His message is clear: a society that calls itself Christian must not build walls of hate or spread lies that demonize others. Leo XIV is reminding America that we can’t claim to follow Christ while embracing “irreconcilable factions” and vindictive politics.
In the pope’s eyes, you cannot separate truth and love from leadership. A leader who foments fear and falsehood is betraying his moral duty.
Pope Leo’s Guadalupe prayer is more than a lament — it’s a challenge.
It challenges those in power to repent of using division and deceit as tools of control. It challenges all of us to choose unity over polarization, compassion over cruelty.
The first US-born pope is essentially asking the Americas (north and south) to rediscover their better angels.
He’s calling on us to build what Saint John Paul II once called a “culture of life” — one where every person, especially the vulnerable, is welcomed and protected as Christ himself.
In an era of bitter partisanship and rising extremism, Pope Leo XIV’s voice has been a beacon of clarity.
He has consistently said that Christianity and hate are incompatible, and that a nation cannot save its soul by sacrificing truth or human dignity.
His Guadalupe plea distilled that conviction in a single, powerful image: a pope on his knees before the Mother of God, praying that her children (you and me, and our leaders) would stop tearing each other apart and start acting like brothers and sisters again.
The question now is whether we will heed Pope Leo’s call — a call, ultimately, to stop lying, stop hating, stop dividing, and to start building the “nations of welcome” that a loving Mother desires for her children
Inspired by the prophetic witness of our pope, Letters from Leo is for those who want more than commentary — they want change. A world less cold. A nation more just. A Church that lives the Gospel.
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