Pope Leo praised the United States' history of welcoming immigrants in his first major address to his home country on Friday (July 3), urging in a video appearance that Americans live up to the ideals put forward in the Declaration of Independence.
The U.S. pope, who has criticised President Donald Trump's hardline anti-immigrant policies as "inhuman", said the word "America" had become a "byword for freedom" across the world because of the way the country welcomed immigrants.
In a speech given live from the Vatican to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia as he received the Center's Liberty Medal, Leo said he hoped that ideals of "unity, justice and peace" held by the Founding Fathers would guide the U.S. as it celebrated its 250th anniversary.
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