Pope Leo XIV Previously Criticized Trump’s Deportation Policies, While ‘Damning Allegations’ Of Abuse Resurface
Cardinal Robert Francis Prevost leads rosary prayers for the health of Pope Francis in St Peter’s Square on March 3, 2025 in Vatican City. (Photo by Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)
OAN Staff Blake Wolf 3:16 PM – Thursday, May 8, 2025
Pope Leo XIV, who was elected to his role on Thursday in Vatican City, has frequently criticized President Donald Trump’s mass deportation policies in the past year — while promoting much harsher gun control laws.
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Prevost, who was announced as Pope Leo XIV and the successor to Pope Francis on Thursday, has been especially critical of the Trump administration’s deportation of Salvadoran illegal alien Kilmar Abrego Garcia, despite the fact that he has deemed a member of the “terrorist group” MS-13 by the Department of Justice.
Trump designated MS-13 as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) on February 20th, 2025. This action was part of a broader initiative targeting transnational criminal groups, including Tren de Aragua and several major Mexican cartels.
As Trump & Bukele use Oval to 🤣 Feds’ illicit deportation of a US resident (https://t.co/t80iDMbBKf), once an undoc-ed Salvadorean himself, now-DC Aux +Evelio asks, “Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed? How can you stay quiet?” https://t.co/jTradMfr0v
In another social media post, Leo reposted an article from the outlet National Catholic Reporter, titled “JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn’t ask us to rank our love for others.”
Vice President JD Vance has been candid about his personal adherence to the Catholic faith.
Nonetheless, the article criticizes a quote from Vance in January, in which he stated: “There is a Christian concept that you love your family and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens, and then after that, prioritize the rest of the world. A lot of the far left has completely inverted that.”
Additionally, Prevost previously shared an article from the Washington Post in 2015, which was titled, “Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic.”
Cardinal Dolan: Why Donald Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric is so problematic http://t.co/GVEbTbOVwu
The 69-year-old has become the first ever Pope from the United States, as he was born in Chicago.
Meanwhile, following the new Pope’s election, allegations by survivor-advocacy groups have begun to resurface alleging that Leo previously swept numerous crimes of child sex abuse under the rug during his time as the leader of Augustinians’ Midwest province in Chicago — beginning in 1998.
At the time, there were long-standing complaints against Reverend Richard McGrath, the president of Providence Catholic High School. The complaints alleged that he sexually assaulted at least one student, and that he was in possession of child sex abuse material, on his phone.
Despite the allegations, McGrath was allowed to remain on as the president of the high school. Additionally, following Leo’s election as the new Pope, an advocacy group called the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP), which has 25,000 members worldwide, released a statement as well.
In a more recent incident in 2022, when Leo served as bishop of Chiclayo in Peru, three victims reported sexual abuse to civil authorities after claiming that Leo failed to open an investigation into the alleged abuse by a priest, noting that he did not even offer psychological support, but rather, continued to allow the deviant priest to continue delivering mass — according to SNAP.
“As the Ordinary of the Diocese of Chiclayo, there is serious reason to believe that Cardinal Prevost did not follow the procedures established by the Holy See for carrying out investigations following reports of abuse,” SNAP wrote in a complaint to the Vatican in March. “There is evidence that the accused priests were not suspended from public ministry following a report of abuse and during the period of the purported preliminary investigation.”
“Now that he’s the Pope, we’re gravely concerned,” stated SNAP spokesperson Sarah Pearson. “There are serious allegations by three women and their complaints deserve to be investigated.”
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