U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks on the phone as the House votes to end the partial government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., February 3, 2026. REUTERS/Kylie Cooper
Despite Pope Leo XIV repeatedly calling on Christians to honor the Bible's multiple instructions to care for and welcome immigrants and refugees, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) is insisting that the scripture says otherwise.
The Daily Beast reported Tuesday that Johnson was confronted in a Capitol Hill hallway by a reporter who asked him about the pontiff's words on providing a safe haven to immigrants fleeing oppression. Pablo Manriquez — a reporter with liberal outlet MeidasTouch — asked the speaker: "Pope Leo has cited Matthew 25:35 to critique Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. How would you respond to Pope Leo in scripture?"
"So you want me to give you a theological dissertation? All right. I tell you what. I’ll post it on my website later today, but let me give you a quick summary," Johnson said. "When someone comes into your country, comes into your nation, they do not have the right to change its laws or to change a society. They’re expected to assimilate. We haven’t had a lot of that going on."
Johnson later posted a lengthy screed to his official Facebook page laying out what he called "the Christian case for border security." He argued that Leviticus 19:34 — which decrees that "the foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born" — is often quoted without appropriate "context."
"It is, of course, a central premise of Judeo-Christian teaching that strangers should be treated with kindness and hospitality," Johnson wrote. "However, that 'Greatest Commandment' was never directed to the government, but to INDIVIDUAL believers."
Pope Leo XIV – the first American-born pope in history — has urged Catholics to consider "deep reflection" about how immigrants are treated in the United States. The pontiff cited the Gospel of Matthew — specifically Jesus' parable of the sheep and the goats — to argue that Christians have a responsibility to welcome those from other nations seeking safety. He has also called on American bishops to be "more forceful" in pushing back against President Donald Trump's administration in how it treats immigrants.
"Jesus says very clearly at the end of the world, we’re going to be asked, you know, how did you receive the foreigner? Did you receive him and welcome him or not? And I think that there’s a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what’s happening," the pope said in November.
