The comments provided the latest indication of a potential renewal of friction between the Vatican and the next Trump White House.

"If it is true, it will be a disgrace, because it makes the poor wretches who have nothing to pay the unpaid bill," Francis said.

Pope Francis had quite a busy weekend. In a rare TV interview, he slammed President-elect Donald Trump’s call for the mass deportation of immigrants in the U.S. as a “disgrace.” He also made his first appearance on TikTok,

This is not the first time the pope has rebuked the president-elect’s position on illegal immigrants. In September 2024, Francis criticized then-candidates Vice President Kamala Harris and Trump when asked a question about the U.S. presidential election. The pope blasted Harris’s position on abortion and Trump’s immigration stance.

Pope Francis sent “cordial greetings” and “assurance of my prayers” to Donald J. Trump on Jan. 20, the day of his inauguration as the 47th president of the United States.

ROME (AP) — Pope Francis said Donald Trump’s plans to impose mass deportations of immigrants would be a “disgrace,” as he weighed in on the incoming U.S. president’s pledges nearly a decade after calling him “not Christian” for wanting to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexican border.