Mike Johnson put on his theologian hat and broke down scripture for the Vicar of Christ.
The House Speaker, a 54-year-old devout Southern Baptist, delivered a theological dissertation on Tuesday after he was asked to respond to comments made by Pope Leo XIV about the Trump administration’s hardline immigration agenda.
In November, the Chicago-born pontiff cited scripture as he called for “deep reflection” about the treatment of migrants in the U.S. The first American pope, 70, has been an outspoken critic of the Trump administration’s policies, from foreign relations to immigration.
“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,” he told reporters, referencing the gospel of Matthew. “Many people who’ve lived for years and years and years, never causing problems, have been deeply affected by what’s going on right now.”
On Tuesday, MeidasTouch reporter Pablo Manríquez told Johnson, “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 responded before launching into a soliloquy insisting that the Bible says “assimilation is expected and anticipated and proper.”
“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,” he said.
Johnson also said that scripture mandates that civil authorities maintain order, which he claimed the Biden-Harris administration failed to do.
“We did not take care of our borders,” he said. “We should love our neighbor as ourselves, as individuals, but as a civil authority, the government has to maintain the law, and that is biblical.”
After finishing his two-minute speech, Johnson went on X to write more than 1,300 words further defending his argument.
“Despite the unfounded claims of the Left, supporting a strong national border is a very Christian thing to do. The Bible tells us so,” he concluded.
It might take more than that to convince Pope Leo, who has consistently criticized the Trump administration’s handling of immigration.
After ICE agents in Illinois refused to allow priests and laypeople to provide communion at a detention facility, Leo said “the spiritual rights of people who have been detained should also be considered, and I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people.”
Ahead of the vote to fund the Department of Homeland Security, Cardinal Joseph Tobin, Leo’s top ally in the U.S., urged lawmakers to “vote against renewing funding for such a lawless organization.” A measure funding the agency for two weeks was signed by President Donald Trump on Tuesday.
On Sunday, Leo said in an X post that he had received “greatly troubling news” following a Wall Street Journal report citing insiders who said the Trump administration was planning a regime change in Cuba by the end of the year.
“I echo the message of the Cuban bishops, inviting all responsible parties to promote a sincere and effective dialogue, in order to avoid violence and every action that could increase the suffering of the dear Cuban people,” he said.
