Reuters
[Source: Reuters]
Pope Leo praised the United States’ history of welcoming immigrants in his first major address to his home country on Friday, urging in a video appearance that Americans live up to the ideals in the Declaration of Independence.
The U.S. pope, who has criticized President Donald Trump’s immigration policies as “inhuman,” said the word “America” had become a “byword for freedom” across the world because of the way the country welcomed immigrants.
In a speech he gave live from the Vatican to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia as he received the Center’s Liberty Medal, Leo said he hoped that ideals of “unity, justice and peace” held by the Founding Fathers would guide the U.S. as it celebrated its 250th anniversary.
“This historic anniversary presents us with the opportunity to reflect once again on the nation’s founding principles in the hope that America will remain ever true to the dream that has earned it the title of land of the free and home of the brave,” said the pope.
Leo, who is originally from Chicago but has not visited the U.S. since becoming pope in May 2025, has previously sent a few video messages to local events in the U.S. but not to a national audience.
