Pope Leo XIV makes his stance on migrants clear in first official speech and it could spark backlash from Trump

While making his first official speech as new head of the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV refused to mince his words when it came to migrants, with spectators suspecting his statements might rub the US president up the wrong way.

The 69-year-old - once known as Cardinal Robert Prevost - ascended to the role last week following a conclave. The decision was made as a result of the late Pope Francis' passing on Easter Monday (21 April).

Despite not being considered a favourite to win, Prevost was announced as the new pope just over less than two days after the discussions kicked off, becoming the first ever American to take over in the role and changing his name to Pope Leo XIV.

Following his ascension to the position, the Chicago-born religious leader held his first official mass, and made his social media debut.

Despite largely being considered a moderate when it comes to modern-day religious beliefs, Leo made a number of bold statements when it comes to his views on both marriage and abortion - many of which actually seem rather traditionalist.

When it comes to the former, AP News reported that Pope Leo described this is a 'stable union between a man and a woman', seemingly excluding any non-heteronormative relationships.

During the same speech, he is said to have described both the unborn and elderly as God’s creatures, implying his agreement to the Catholic stance on abortion and euthanasia.

Another passionate stance Pope Leo reportedly takes centres on immigration, as indicated by a speech he made earlier today (16 May).

The Pope is widely considered a moderate (Simone Risoluti - Vatican Media via Vatican Pool/Getty Images)

In a Vatican address involving a number of world diplomats, the pope emphasised that the dignity of migrants must be respected, before issuing pleas to powerful nations to put an end to their production of life-threatening weapons.

Making peace a priority throughout, Pope Leo also alluded to his missionary work in Peru, describing himself as a 'descendant of immigrants'. He credited his travels through both North and South America as having given him the ability to 'transcend borders in order to encounter different people', vowing to continue travelling in line with a tradition set by his predecessors.

Elsewhere during his speech, he called for both compassion and solidarity with migrants, referencing the crisis in Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, where he said individuals are suffering 'most grievously' - as per Christian News.

And while Donald Trump - who announced plans earlier this year to embark on the 'largest deportation programme in US history' - is yet to respond to Pope Leo's plea, it is thought he won't be pleased by the pontiff's somewhat liberal stance.

Speaking at his inauguration earlier this year, the Republican leader vowed to deport 'maybe as many as 20 million' people from the pope's home-country.

He also added at the time: "We will begin the process of returning millions and millions of criminal aliens back to the places from which they came."

Trump announced severe regulations on immigration earlier this year (Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)

During the same inaugural speech, the politician elaborated by revealing that migrants accused of crimes would be the first targets of his administration's strict new foreign policies.

A comment Pope Leo also made when asked by press if he has 'any message for the United States' last week also hints that he and Trump are likely to butt heads in the coming years.

On Monday (12 May), NewsNation correspondent Robert Sherman issued the pope with the controversial question, to which he simply responded: "Many." Pope Leo quickly added, however: "God bless you all."

Several years earlier, he used social media to imply that his politics do not quite align with that of Trump, having re-posted an article titled 'JD Vance is wrong: Jesus doesn't ask us to rank our love for others.'

He also re-posted a comment asking, 'Do you not see the suffering? Is your conscience not disturbed?' on X, in response to Trump's meeting with El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, where he spoke of deporting and jailing US citizens abroad.

Pope Leo also reshared a third post back in 2018 - during Trump's first presidency - shared by Cardinal Blase J. Cupich, which read: "There is nothing remotely Christian, American, or morally defensible about a policy that takes children away from their parents and warehouses them in cages. This is being carried out in our name and the shame is on us all."