Megan Kelly issued a scathing attack on Pope Francis just hours after the Catholic Church announced his death. The 88-year-old pontiff died of a cerebral stroke and subsequent heart failure early Monday morning, and by the afternoon, Kelly released the new episode of her podcast – in which she accused Francis of moving the Catholic Church ‘in a leftward direction’ on immigration issues.
She also blamed the late Pope for helping bring ‘illegal’ immigrants into the United States and leaving Americans to ‘deal’ with them. ‘The Church has been participating in getting immigrants here and then finding them housing and helping them stay here, irrespective of the fact that they’re here illegally,’ said Kelly, a lifelong Catholic. ‘And Pope Francis didn’t have to deal with that.
‘It’s caused a lot of us in the Catholic Church to wonder what exactly we’re donating toward on Sunday, it really does.’
She then claimed that conservative Catholics like herself have been caught in a ‘tug-of-war… between the Pope’s messaging and what he wanted us to believe were deep Catholic teachings and what we understand as Americans who have been watching our citizens murdered in the streets by these people to be true.’
According to the former Fox News host, it is one thing for the Catholic Church to want to support its priests and ensure there are ‘flowers on the altar for Easter mass,’ but ‘funding illegals coming into the country? They’re not all upstanding Catholics.’
The late Pope was known for using his pulpit to speak out against US President Donald Trump during his first term in office, particularly for his calls to build a wall between the United States and Mexico. Francis condemned Trump’s actions towards illegal immigrants as ‘cruelty’ and a ‘grave sin’ – and even urged Catholic voters to choose ‘the lesser evil’ according to ‘his or her own conscience’ ahead of the 2024 presidential election.
POSTLIBERALISM: More recently, the Pope blasted the Trump administration’s deportation plans – warning that they would deprive migrants of their inherent dignity. Vice President JD Vance, in turn, tried to defend the administration’s crackdown by citing a concept from medieval Catholic theology known in Latin as ‘ordo amoris.’ But in a letter to US bishops on February 10, Francis appeared to correct Vance’s understanding of the concept.
Vance, who converted to Catholicism as an adult, acknowledged the Pope’s criticism – but said he will continue to defend his views. And in an apparent effort to bury the hatchet, Vance had a brief meeting with the Pope just one day before his passing. On her podcast on Monday, Kelly took the president’s side in the dispute, claiming Trump was ‘so devoted to getting rid of these people who Pope Francis just looked at as vulnerable and defenseless.’
‘You know who is vulnerable and defenseless?’ the podcaster asked, rhetorically. ‘Laken Riley,’ she said, referring to a Georgia nursing student who was raped and killed by migrants in the country illegally.
The Holy See Press Office has said Francis’s body could be transported to the Vatican Basilica as early as Wednesday morning. But he will be buried in Rome’s Santa Maria Maggiore basilica – and not St. Peter’s Basilica as is tradition. By doing so, Francis will become the first Pope in more than 100 years to be laid to rest outside the Vatican. He also rejected the tradition of Popes having three coffins, instead choosing to be buried in just one. – By MELISSA KOENIG for DM.
Apr 22, 2025 11:28:42 am
