“Oh, how I would really like a poor Church, and for the poor,” he informed reporters quickly after his election as pope.
He visited islands off Italy and Greece the place refugees have been making the perilous journey from Libya, Syria and surrounding nations. He helped resettle a number of refugee households in Italy and inspired different Catholics to get up for migrants.
“As individuals of religion, we want to be a part of our voices to talk out in your behalf,” Francis mentioned, addressing migrants. “We hope that the world will heed these scenes of tragic and certainly determined want, and reply in a means worthy of our widespread humanity.”
He additionally spoke out towards the Donald Trump administration’s mass deportation efforts within the U.S. In a letter despatched to U.S. bishops in early 2025, he requested “to not give in to narratives that discriminate towards and trigger pointless struggling to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters” whereas likening at this time’s migrants to Jesus, Mary and Joseph fleeing violence to Egypt.
As he labored to encourage Catholics’ outreach to the world, the pope additionally confronted criticism inside his personal flock. Within the U.S., a small wing of doctrine-minded conservatives pushed again towards Francis’ welcoming model of Catholicism, insisting that the pope’s strategy to some points ― akin to distributing the Eucharist to divorced, remarried {couples} ― may have the impact of muddying long-standing church teachings.
Francis acknowledged his conservative opponents in 2019, saying, “For me, it’s an honor if the People assault me.” He lamented that folks selling schisms have allowed ideology to change into “indifferent” from Catholic doctrine.
“Doing this, you lose the true custom and also you flip to ideologies to have help. In different phrases, ideologies change religion,” Francis informed Portuguese Jesuits of the U.S. Catholic Church in a non-public assembly in August 2023.