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Pope Leo XIV Sends Virtual Message to Interfaith Immigration Summit

Updated 9:07 PM ET · 8:29 PM ETConfirmed

Faith Desk

In Short: Pope Leo XIV delivered a virtual message to an interfaith summit, addressing issues of immigration and peace.

Pope Leo XIV sent a virtual message to an interfaith summit in Assisi, Italy, on October 27, 2026, addressing issues of immigration and peace, according to OSV News and The Mary Sue. OSV News reported that the summit brought together faith leaders, legal practitioners, advocates, and scholars from Catholic, Protestant, and Jewish traditions.

The Mary Sue noted that the pope shared his thoughts through a video message as he was recovering from lung cancer surgery. OSV News reported that the summit aimed to find common ground in serving immigrant communities.

Pope Leo XIV emphasized the importance of human rights for immigrants, stating, 'Too often, these most vulnerable members of society are caught in situations which strip them of their human rights — an injustice that cries out to heaven,' as quoted by OSV News.

The pope also highlighted the moral duty to help immigrants, saying, 'The Holy Father’s message asks us to resist the indifference that reduces a person to a statistic,' according to Gallagher, as quoted by OSV News.

The Mary Sue reported that Pope Leo XIV declared there is no such thing as a holy war, and he called for peace, stating, 'War can never be waged in the name of God,' as quoted by Americamagazine.

Eurasiareview, Ewtnnews, and Ncregister noted that immigration has become a defining fault line in European politics and Catholicism, and Pope Leo XIV has sought to balance the Church’s welcoming stance with the concerns of receiving societies.

Eurasiareview, Ewtnnews, and Ncregister reported that Pope Leo XIV has combined strong continuity with Pope Francis’ defense of migrants and a more explicit recognition of the rights of nations and the demands of integration.

The Mary Sue reported that the pope’s message reached delegates marking 40 years since Pope John Paul II convened the first such gathering in 1986.

Chicagotribune reported that a participant at the summit felt strongly that faith was connecting people from all walks of life, and she asked the pope to film a recorded message for their 10th anniversary celebration.

Ibtimes reported that Pope Leo XIV framed his message around the 'spirit of Assisi,' rejecting religious justifications for war, choosing mediation and dialogue, and pairing reflection with action for peace.

Both OSV News and The Mary Sue reported that Pope Leo XIV’s message focused on the moral duty to help immigrants and the need for peace, while The Mary Sue and Ibtimes emphasized his declaration against holy wars and his call for peace.

Eurasiareview, Ewtnnews, and Ncregister agreed that Pope Leo XIV has sought to balance the Church’s welcoming stance with the concerns of receiving societies, while Americamagazine and Ibtimes highlighted his call for peace and rejection of religiously justified wars.

What this adds

Background

What's confirmed

• It is against this backdrop that Leo is traveling to Metz on Sept. 28 for an interreligious meeting, followed by an address on the “Roots of Europe for Peace and Unity” at the Robert Schuman Conference Centre.
• In “ Église et immigration: le grand malaise,” published in 2017, conservative writer Laurent Dandrieu accused Church leaders of reducing Catholic teaching to an almost exclusive imperative of welcome while neglecting the major upheavals experienced by local communities.
• More than a decade after the 2015 migration crisis, immigration has become one of the defining fault lines of European politics — and increasingly of European Catholicism itself.
• The balance is particularly difficult to strike, not least for a pope whose experience has been largely shaped by Latin America, where migration raises different demographic and civilizational challenges than in Europe.
• As Leo prepares to reach Metz, at the crossroads of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, what message will he offer about welcoming the stranger and the consequences of mass immigration?
• So far, he has combined strong continuity with Pope Francis’ defense of migrants and a more explicit recognition of the rights of nations, the demands of integration, and the concerns of receiving societies.
• It could provide one of the most revealing indications yet of how the American pope intends to address a deeply divided Europe.
• METZ, France — The hot-button issue of immigration has invited itself into Pope Leo XIV’s first apostolic journey to France, otherwise marked by the defense of human life and the remarkable signs of Catholic revival currently emerging across the country.

What's still developing

• The Augustinian pope said he very much wanted to be present in Assisi and “to see your faces and bear witness together to the fact that living as brothers and sisters is already possible,” but his doctors had advised against flying by helicopter to the event so soon after his surgery to remove a cancerous nodule from his right lung on Oct. 13.
• The Coalition for Spiritual and Public Leadership provides pastoral care to those in the west suburban facility, which grew in prominence during and after Operation Midway Blitz, the monthslong aggressive immigration enforcement campaign waged in Chicago last year.
• She said she was shocked and surprised that she got to deliver this message, adding that she got to say much of what she rehearsed before time ran out.
• He spoke while recovering in Rome from cancer surgery that forced him to cancel the trip. 'Only peace is holy,' said the first US-born pope, denouncing the revival of war as an instrument of international politics.
• For millions of American Catholics, it was their own pope setting the terms.

Sources

• OSV Newslink
• The Mary Suelink
• Eurasiareviewlink
• Ewtnnewslink
• Ncregisterlink
• Americamagazinelink
• Chicagotribunelink
• Ibtimeslink
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV Denounces Religious Wars in Assisi Video Message link
• WarpBeat — background on Pope Leo XIV Denounces Religious Wars in Assisi Video Message link
• EWTN News — video link