Oh, Popie, just shut up

vatican city: Mr. Leo, tear down this wall!

Speaking from behind his guarded Vatican walls, Pope Leo urges US to welcome immigrants in America 250 speech

The first American Pope cited the Declaration of Independence before flying to Lampedusa to address Europe's migrant crisis, where he stayed long enough to praise religious freedom and berate Europeans for not letting in more muslims, known world-wide for their tolerance of different faiths.

Pope Leo XIV urged Americans to embrace the U.S.'s history of welcoming immigrants in a virtual address to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia on Friday while accepting the 2026 Liberty Medal in recognition of his commitment to religious freedom.

"In these past 250 years, for so many peoples throughout the world, it was the firm resolve to achieve the noble vision of the nation's founders that made America a byword for freedom, as the country opened its doors to successive waves of immigrants, enabling them and their children to play their part in shaping the future of the nation," Pope Leo, the Catholic church's first American Pope, recited.

"I would just like to recall the words signed by the founding fathers of the nation 250 years ago in Philadelphia in the Declaration of Independence. It said that we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men have received fundamental rights from our creator, and they include life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness," he continued.

…. "Today, as we look to the future, 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," the Pope continued, bolstering a steady commitment to advocating for immigrant and migrant rights, a position he's taken a strong stance on since ascending to the papacy in 2025.

"The moral greatness of a nation is manifested, above all, in its capacity to support, protect and cherish the lives of all, especially the most vulnerable and those whose worth is questioned," Leo concluded.

Following his virtual address to the Philadelphia crowd, which he delivered remotely from The Vatican, the Pope departed for Lampedusa, an Italian territorial island off the coast of north Africa that's become a hotspot for migrants seeking to gain entry into Europe.

There, again, Leo urged the world and Europe to accept more migrants

Pope Leo XIV's brief day trip lasted exactly 3 hours and 36 minutes from the moment he landed to the time he lifted his skirts and hurried back to hide in the Vatican, safely removed from unwashed migrant terrorists.

.Update. I can’t link to TikTok in Wordpress, but check this video from BBC AUS: Lampedusa, population 6,000, now has up to 7,000 African migrants a day landing on its shores — 127,000 in 2023 and increasing each year — where the Italian goverment scoops the, up and brings them to the mainland so they can settle in or move on to infest the rest of Europe. The arrivees are primarily muslims from Tunisia and neighboring African countries: the Pope wants more of them.