Pope Francis never stopped seeing migrants. Not in the thousands displaced from their homes and not in the families stranded at borders. He spoke of migrants not as numbers to be solved, but as people to be welcomed with dignity. Francis, the first Latin American pope and a relentless advocate for migrants and refugees, died on Monday, April 21 at 88, leaving behind a legacy defined by compassion for the world’s displaced. Born as Jorge Mario Bergoglio on 17 December 1936 in Argentina, he was the son of two Italian immigrants.
From the shores of Lampedusa, Italy where he visited migrants shortly after his election in 2013 to the corridors of global power in the years that followed, Pope Francis made the plight of migrants central to his papacy, challenging nations—and urging the church—to welcome migrants with dignity and kindness.
Two months ago, in February 2025 and a few weeks after the U.S. presidential election, Pope Francis released a 10-point letter to American bishops, addressing “the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations.”
“What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly,” the pope said in the letter. He urged governments to adopt policies based on four factors: welcoming, protecting, promoting, and integrating migrants and refugees.
The letter followed Vice President J.D. Vance’s claim that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops was resettling “illegal immigrants” in order to receive federal funds. Vance also justified the Trump administration’s America-first policies by referencing the theological concept of “ordo amoris”—a medieval Catholic theological idea that people’s love should begin with those closest to them. Francis, in the letter that came subsequently, said the true meaning of that teaching lies in a “love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
Vance was notably one of the last leaders to meet with the pope on Sunday. “I know you’ve not been feeling great, but it’s good see you in better health,” Vance told Pope Francis.
As the war in Gaza raged on, Pope Francis called the parish in Gaza every evening at 7 p.m. as part of his daily routine. Even in his last public appearance before he died, Pope Francis repeated his call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Back in 2018, Pope Francis said he supported statements by U.S. Catholic bishops who called the Trump administration’s separation of children from their parents at the border “contrary to our Catholic values” and “immoral.”
In a statement Documented received on the Pope’s passing, the Catholic Charities of NY Executive Director, Monsignor Kevin Sullivan, said Pope Francis “challenged Catholic charities to deepen and increase our obligation to see in those we help the face of God, by respecting their dignity, and by accompanying them toward a future of greater hope.” In 2015, Catholic Charities welcomed Pope Francis in a school gym in East Harlem, alongside migrants from different continents who had made a home in New York. “The best tribute to Pope Francis will be a renewed commitment by each of us in our own way to help ensure our world makes room at the table for those too often forgotten,” Monsignor Sullivan added.
Immigration was central to Pope Francis’ work from the earliest days of his pontificate.
When the pope traveled to Lampedusa, the Italian island which thousands of migrants and asylum seekers used as a point of entry into Europe, just four months after his election in 2013, he condemned the “globalization of indifference.”
“I will always admire the way he moved to the margins in his ministry,” Rev. Paul Fleck, Executive Director of Immigration Law & Justice New York, a United Methodist Immigration Ministry, told Documented. While not a Catholic, he reflected on the pope’s impact with deep respect. “The way he lived his faith said more about him than an Encyclical [a papal letter sent to all bishops of the Roman Catholic Church] or words,” Fleck said.
Pope Francis’ messaging about migrants’ suffering remained consistent throughout the years, and he institutionalized that vision, creating the Vatican’s Section for Migrants and Refugees — which supports the Church in accompanying people in the important choices they make to migrate, especially those forced to flee.
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Whether confronting nationalist leaders or speaking before the United Nations, Pope Francis repeatedly framed migration not as a political inconvenience but as a human crisis demanding solidarity. He emphasized the importance of recognizing the humanity of migrants and displaced persons, urging society to see beyond statistics and understand their individual experiences.
“When we talk about migrants and displaced persons, all too often we stop at statistics. But it is not about statistics, it is about real people! If we encounter them, we will get to know more about them,” Pope Francis said in his message for the 106th World Day of Migrants and Refugees, in 2020. “And knowing their stories, we will be able to understand them.”
When nations and country leaders built walls through policies and other means, Pope Francis aimed to build bridges. He used his words to make the world listen and he urged leaders to act.
Chia-Chia Wang, NY Director at Church World Service, says Pope Francis’ legacy deeply resonates with her. She told Documented that the pope is “a great leader who tirelessly championed fair and equal treatment of migrants and other marginalized communities,” adding that “our government must follow pope’s footsteps, his wisdom, spirit and hard working for the common good. There must not be another way.”
