(OSV News) – The Vatican press office confirmed that Pope Leo XIV has no plans to visit the United States this year.
“The pope will not be going to the United States in 2026,” Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in response to journalists’ questions Feb 8.
Vice President J.D. Vance extended an invitation on behalf of President Donald Trump during a May 19 meeting with Pope Leo, not long after his papal election, the Reuters news agency reported.
According to a handout video shared by the Vatican, the pope was heard saying that he would visit “at some point.”
While many had hoped that Pope Leo would visit his homeland, the trip seemed unlikely to happen in the immediate future, given the growing divide between the Trump administration and the pope over his criticism of U.S. policies targeting migrants.
Speaking with journalists outside Castel Gandolfo Sept. 30, the pope said Catholic politicians should be judged by their overall policy positions, not just a single issue.
“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” the pope said. “And someone who says I’m against abortion, but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
At another press scrum Nov. 18, the pope expressed his support for the pastoral message released by the U.S. bishops’ conference on the enforcement of immigration policies in the country.
“When people are living good lives – and many of them (in the United States) for 10, 15, 20 years – to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful, to say the least,” is not acceptable, the pope said Nov. 18.
The pope said that while every country “has a right to determine who and how and when people enter,” it was also important “to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have” when enforcing immigration policies.
Despite the pope’s criticism, Trump said he was unaware of the pope’s comments and was open to meeting with him.
“Sure, I will. Why not?” the president said in an interview with Politico published Dec. 9.
The Holy See typically announces papal visits months or even just weeks in advance, and it has not issued any announcement about the pope’s 2026 travel destinations.
However, bishops in Angola, Algeria and Spain have confirmed that Pope Leo will visit their countries this year.
Pope Leo has also expressed his desire to visit Latin America during a press conference aboard the papal flight to Rome Dec. 2.
“Obviously, I would love to visit Latin America; Argentina and Uruguay are waiting for the pope’s visit. Peru, I think they will receive me, too! And then, if I go to Peru, (I could visit) many neighboring countries as well. But the plan is not yet defined,” the pope said.
(Junno Arocho Esteves is an international correspondent for OSV News.)
