Pope Leo XIV is fighting a war for the Gospel, not politics

Pope Leo XIV has issued his first apostolic exhortation of his young pontificate titled "Dilexi Te," which translates “I have loved you.” Those words were spoken by Jesus Christ to those who, in the Pope’s words, “had no influence or resources” and were treated with “violence and contempt.” 

This exhortation calls upon all Christians to renew their outreach for the poor, not by mere words alone but action. Leo reminds us that when we see the “wounded faces of the poor, we see the suffering of the innocent and, therefore, the suffering of Christ himself.” 

"Dilexi Te" was a joint effort begun by the late Pope Francis and completed by the new pope. It represents a continuity not only between the two pontiffs but a continuum with the history of the Catholic Church. 

Leo takes aim at a “wealthy elite, living in a bubble of comfort and luxury” who create an “illusion of happiness. . .centered on the accumulation of wealth and social success at all costs.”  

In such a world, the pope argues those left behind are the poor and migrants whom he singles out for particular care. In a recent speech, the pontiff decried the “inhuman measures” that treat migrants “as if they were garbage and not human beings.” 

In our highly polarized culture, many interpret Leo’s words as either declaring war on President Trump or siding with those adamantly opposed to the president. Neither is true. Care for the poor is at the heart of the Gospel message. Quoting Francis, Leo writes that God’s word is “so clear and direct, so simple and eloquent, that no ecclesial interpretation has the right to relativize it.”  

The Trump administration’s detention of immigrants without cause by masked ICE agents has angered many Catholic bishops, some of whom have issued extraordinary exemptions releasing Catholics in "genuine fear of immigration enforcement actions" from their obligation to attend Sunday mass. Washington, D.C. Cardinal Robert McElroy has decried such detentions as a “governmental assault.” Santa Fe Archbishop John Wester says he has the “feeling of living in a police state.” 

After a Vatican meeting with Bishop Mark Seitz, Leo urged the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops to speak forcefully about the plight of migrants, asking the El Paso bishop to convey his message to those seeking refuge: “You stand with me, and I stand with you."

That message was reinforced by Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who decried the “pain” suffered by immigrants in his city, noting that the abuses they suffer “wound the soul.” Philadelphia archbishop Nelson J. Pérez, the son of Cuban exiles, reassured his city’s migrants that they are “not alone.”

Such exhortations from the pope and other Catholic leaders are often misunderstood as siding with one side or the other in our partisan civil wars. Adherence to the gospel, not partisan ideologies, is what motivates this pope. In an interview, Leo said: “I don’t plan to get involved in partisan politics. That’s not what the church is about.”

This has not stopped Trump’s most devout supporters from condemning Leo, whom they see as a “woke Marxist heretic,” a disappointment from the break they hoped for from the late Pope Francis. As one irate commentator posted on X: “I no longer support you as my Pope. You have betrayed the Catholic faith.”

Trump himself has tried to convince his supporters that the pope is an ally. Shortly after the pontiff’s election, Trump said, “We’re a little bit surprised and we’re happy.” Later, Trump and JD Vance met with Louis Prevost, the pope’s brother, with Trump lauding him as a “major MAGA fan.”

Some of those most opposed to Trump see the pope as taking their side in the political warfare that consumes our politics. In a recent “No Kings Day” demonstration, one post on X read, “Jesus Christ Is Our Only King — Pope Leo.”

Occupy Democrats, a prominent progressive media outlet, has posted videos titled “Pope Leo DROPS TUESDAY BOMB on Trump and Republicans,” and “Trump FUMES As Pope Leo Just DESTROYED Him Over THIS.”

But instead of engaging in partisan politics, the Vatican is operating on a different plane: calling upon Catholics not to succumb to “attitudes shaped by secular ideologies or political and economic approaches that lead to gross generalizations and mistaken conclusions.” Instead, the pope urges everyone to “go back and re-read the Gospel, lest we risk replacing it with the wisdom of the world.”  

Leo writes that only when we recognize the dignity of the poor in every circumstance, and not surrender to the politics of the moment, will we “regain our moral and spiritual dignity.” Should we fail, the pope warns that “we fall into a cesspool.” 

We may already be there. 

John Kenneth White is a professor emeritus at The Catholic University of America. His latest book is titled “Grand Old Unraveling: The Republican Party, Donald Trump, and the Rise of Authoritarianism.”