Vásquez was most recently selected by Francis to oversee the Diocese of Tyler, also in Texas, after he dismissed its former bishop, Joseph Strickland, who had openly accused the pope of being a heretic and called into question the validity of his leadership.

Pope Francis called President-elect Donald Trump's plans for the deportation of illegal immigrants a "disgrace."

The pope has made welcoming migrants a key theme of his nearly 12-year papacy, and he has previously criticized Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric. During the 2016 election, he said Trump was "not Christian" in his view.

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

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 criticized Donald Trump's plans for the deportation of immigrants from the United States, calling them a "disgrace." He also emphasized that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in a two-state formula.

It’s also a topic which resonates personally with Francis. In his new autobiography, the Pope recalled how his paternal grandparents and father had planned to sail in 1927 on the Principessa Mafalda from Italy to Argentina, which sank with the loss of many lives, but ended up making a later crossing.

The pope's message comes a day after Francis said Trump's reported plan to intensify immigration enforcement actions across the U.S. would be a "disgrace"

ROME — 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.

Pope Francis on Monday offered well-wishes to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump in a traditional message sent ahead of the presidential inauguration ceremony in Washington. The pontiff, who has previously expressed sharp disagreement with Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric,