Pope Leo condemns 'Orwellian-style language' in veiled jab at Trump admin

09 January

Pope Leo XIV gestures during the weekly general audience in the Paul VI Hall at the Vatican, January 7, 2026. REUTERS/Guglielmo Mangiapane

Pope Leo XIV appeared to issue veiled criticism at President Donald Trump's administration while giving a speech to a roomful of the Vatican's diplomats.

In a Friday address to the Holy See's diplomatic corps, Pope Leo XIV — who is the first pope from the United States in the history of the Catholic Church — condemned how "the West" was ushering in a period in which freedoms were being curtailed. He also denounced ideological language used to divide people, though he notably refrained from uttering Trump's name.

"It is painful to see how, especially in the West, the space for genuine freedom of expression is rapidly shrinking," the pontiff said. "At the same time, a new Orwellian-style language is developing which, in an attempt to be increasingly inclusive, ends up excluding those who do not conform to the ideologies that are fueling it."

The pope's remarks come just days after 37 year-old Minneapolis, Minnesota resident Renee Nicole Good — a U.S. citizen and mother of three – was fatally shot by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent Jonathan Ross. On Thursday, Vice President JD Vance claimed that Good's death was "of her own making."

"The gaslighting is off the charts and I'm having none of it. This guy was doing his job. She tried to stop him from doing his job. When he approached her car, she tried to hit him," Vance told reporters in the White House briefing room. "A tragedy? Absolutely. But a tragedy that falls on this woman and all of the radicals who teach people that immigration is the one type of law that rioters are allowed to interfere with."

Vance's remarks were heavily criticized in a Thursday op-ed for the National Catholic Reporter (NCR) by digital editor John Grosso, who asserted that the vice president's comments were out of step with his Catholic faith (Vance converted to Catholicism in 2019). Grosso called Vance's reaction to the shooting "twisted and wrongheaded."

"The vice president's comments justifying the death of Renee Good are a moral stain on the collective witness of our Catholic faith," Grosso wrote. "His repeated attempts to blame Good for her own death are fundamentally incompatible with the Gospel. Our only recourse is to pray for his conversion of heart."

Watch Pope Leo XIV's words below:

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