Influential U.S. cardinals caution against Iran war, Trump immigration policies

[0:01] When President Donald Trump announced a ceasefire with Iran this past week, it came after a [0:07] chorus of world leaders called for an end to the war. [0:11] One of those voices belonged to Leo XIV, the first-ever U.S.-born pope in the history [0:17] of the Catholic Church. [0:19] The 70-year-old pope was born Robert Prevost and grew up in Chicago. [0:24] For many years, he was known simply as Father Bob. [0:28] Leo is measured, deliberate, and soft-spoken, but the American pope has become increasingly [0:34] outspoken against certain policies of the American president. [0:39] So we asked three influential American cardinals who know him well why Pope Leo's church has [0:45] emerged as a voice of moral opposition to the war in Iran and the crackdown on immigration. [0:53] Peace be with you. [0:59] Those were the first words that Pope Leo uttered as the new leader of 1.4 billion Catholics [1:05] worldwide. [1:07] His selection was a surprise, celebrated by many of the 53 million that make Catholicism [1:14] the largest Christian denomination in the United States. [1:20] What do you think having an American pope has done for the Catholic Church here in the [1:26] U.S.? [1:27] Let's put Chicago on the map. [1:30] Finally. [1:32] Finally. [1:33] We're proud. [1:34] We're proud that we produced a pope. [1:36] Chicago can say that. [1:38] The Archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blaise Cupich, as well as Cardinals Robert McElroy of Washington, [1:45] D.C. and Joseph Tobin of Newark, New Jersey, agreed to their first-ever joint interview. [1:52] Our candor surprised us about the new pope and what they're hearing in the pews. [1:58] We're the three American cardinals that are actively serving dioceses right now. [2:04] So we listen to a lot of people as part of the job description. [2:08] And I think we're aware of the anxieties of people about the threats to peace at all different [2:15] levels. [2:17] Would you like to see this first American pope be more outspoken on issues that he disagrees [2:23] with? [2:24] He's the pastor of the world. [2:27] He's not a pundit. [2:29] So the distinction is he's not going to pronounce on everything, but he's going to pronounce [2:34] on what's important. [2:35] War is back in vogue. [2:37] He started in January with a speech criticizing U.S. military action in Venezuela. [2:44] After that, the Vatican's ambassador in the U.S. was called to the Pentagon for a meeting, [2:50] which two church officials described to 60 Minutes as unpleasant and contentious. [2:57] Both the Pentagon and the Vatican have said since, in multiple statements, that it was [3:01] routine and provided an opportunity for an exchange of ideas. [3:09] In March, we traveled to Italy and managed to ask Pope Leo a question about the war in [3:13] Iran. [3:15] Holy Father, can I ask you what your hopes are for the Middle East? [3:18] I pray for peace. [3:19] I hope that ceasefire would be the most effective way to work together, to find peace for all [3:28] parties, to respect all parties, and to come to a solution, which is too many years in creating [3:36] problems for everyone. [3:37] Thank you. [3:38] Work for peace. [3:39] Since our visit, the pope's tone has sharpened. [3:42] This past week, he issued a rare condemnation of President Trump's threat to destroy Iranian [3:49] civilization. [3:50] The pope called it, quote, truly unacceptable. [3:54] He also took the unusual step of issuing a call to action. [3:58] I contact the authorities, political leaders, congressmen, to ask them, tell them, to work [4:06] for peace and to reject war always. [4:08] The Holy Father usually avoids calling out President Trump by name or any member of his [4:14] administration. [4:16] But in a Palm Sunday homily, he appeared to reference the religious language Defense Secretary [4:22] Pete Hegseth, who is Christian but not Catholic, often uses to frame the war. [4:28] Blessed be the Lord, my rock, who trains my hands for war and my fingers for battle. [4:34] Pope Leo warned that Jesus, quote, does not listen to the prayers of those who wage war. [4:41] Is this a just war? [4:42] No. [4:44] Under Catholic teaching, this is not a just war. [4:48] Our faith teaches us there are certain prerequisites for a just war. [4:53] You can't go for a variety of different aims. [4:56] You have to have a focused aim, which is to restore justice and restore peace. [5:01] That's it. [5:02] Iran has been the chief exporter of terror. [5:07] Is there no scenario in which preventing that can be a just war? [5:13] It's an abominable regime, and it should be removed. [5:17] This is a war of choice that we went to. [5:20] And I think it's embedded in a wider moment in the United States that's worrying, which [5:25] is this. [5:28] We're seeing before us the possibility of war after war after war. [5:33] President Trump has argued that military action against Iran was justified in order [5:39] to destroy its nuclear and ballistic missile programs, among other reasons. [5:45] General Cupich not only takes issue with the war, but also what he calls the gamification [5:53] of how the White House has portrayed it on social media. [5:56] Flawless victory. [5:58] We're dehumanizing the victims of war by turning the suffering of people and the killing of [6:06] children and our own soldiers into entertainment. [6:10] You called it sickening. [6:11] It is sickening. [6:12] To splice together movie cuts with actual bombing and targeting of people for the purposes of entertainment [6:20] is sickening. [6:21] This is not who we are. [6:22] We're better than this. [6:23] We spoke with the Cardinals in the nation's Capitol. [6:26] It was a wide-ranging conversation in which they told us Pope Leo inspired them to weigh [6:32] in on political issues, including the administration's mass deportation efforts. [6:40] This past January, Cardinal Tobin called Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE, a lawless [6:46] organization. [6:47] Cardinal, those are strong words to call ICE a lawless organization. [6:52] Why did you do that? [6:54] I didn't say that they were people without law, but when people act in this way, when [6:59] they have to hide their identities to terrify people, when they can actually violate other [7:06] guarantees of our Constitution and Bill of Rights, well, I think somebody's got to call [7:12] that out. [7:13] And I'm not the only one. [7:15] Cardinal McElroy, we are speaking in a church here in Washington, D.C. that serves a largely [7:20] immigrant population. [7:23] The pastor asked us not to share or publicize this parish name or location. [7:29] What's he worried about? [7:31] He's worried for his people. [7:32] They live under fear, and thus our mass count within the Spanish masses in our archdiocese [7:41] went down 30 percent from the year before. [7:44] 30 percent. [7:45] That's a lot. [7:46] And it's all fear. [7:49] Before he became Archbishop of Washington, Cardinal Robert McElroy served as the Bishop of San [7:54] Diego, one of the busiest stretches of the southern border for illegal crossings. [8:00] I feel it got to a point where it was getting out of control. [8:05] Under Biden? [8:06] Under Biden, yes. [8:07] You believe in strong borders? [8:09] Yes. [8:11] So what's wrong then with the current policy? [8:14] This is a roundup of people throughout the country. [8:18] People who have been living good, strong lives, been here a long time, raised their children [8:22] here, many of their children born here, and are citizens. [8:25] That's what our objection is. [8:27] This was discussed during the campaign, was widely discussed. [8:33] And yet President Trump won the Catholic vote over Kamala Harris handily, 55 to 43 percent. [8:40] He promised to secure the border, he talked about deportation, and a majority of Catholics [8:46] voted for the policy. [8:47] I would like to know what Catholics feel about this indiscriminate mass deportation. [8:52] I think that it's very clear the American people are saying, we really didn't vote for [8:57] this. [8:58] What do you say to people in the pews who say, I don't want to hear politics from my [9:04] priest? [9:06] I say, fine. [9:08] I want to preach the gospel. [9:10] God wants us to promote peace in the world because his desire is that we be one human family. [9:16] What we're seeing as pastors is an enormous, profound level of human suffering. [9:24] And that's what motivates us. [9:28] We found a sign of what motivates Leo and how his church will care for migrants and the [9:33] less fortunate in a sacred space 15 miles southeast of Rome. [9:39] Nearly 2,000 years ago, Castel Gandolfo was the villa of a Roman emperor. [9:45] For the last 400 years, it has been the pope's summer home. [9:50] Leo's predecessor, Pope Francis, enlisted Father Manny Durantes, a priest from Chicago [9:57] and an immigrant to the U.S. himself, to help open it up to the world. [10:01] I think Pope Leo wants to make the dream of Pope Francis a reality. [10:06] After we explained the whole vision and talked with him, he said to us, full force ahead, [10:11] Father Manny. [10:12] This is the spiritual heart of Borgo Laudato Si and this entire space. [10:17] That vision is an innovative new project centered around migrants and locals in need, participating [10:24] in the Vatican's first job training center. [10:27] They're teaching sustainable farming, gardening and cooking at the same estate where Pope Leo [10:33] comes to rest every week. [10:36] How many migrants are you talking about that may be part of this job training program? [10:39] Between migrants and people and vulnerability, our goal is to be able to at least train about [10:44] a thousand people, you know, per year. [10:46] That doesn't sound like a big number, but ultimately it's a model of how if every church did something [10:52] like this, every diocese, we have 6,000 of them, you know, that's a lot of people we could [10:57] train in a year. [10:58] My name is Ali Amdiyamin, I'm from Bangladesh. [11:03] My name is Nermin, from Syria. [11:05] We met the first graduating class of chefs in training that included refugees and migrants [11:10] from around the world. [11:13] One was a young man from West Africa who survived the dangerous journey by sea to the Italian [11:18] island of Lampedusa in the Mediterranean, where tens of thousands of migrants have drowned. [11:26] Pope Leo will spend July 4th in Lampedusa, Italy, a site where tens of thousands of migrants land [11:34] on their way to Europe every year. [11:37] It's America's 250th birthday. [11:40] Do you think the Holy Father is sending a message, Cardinal, with that visit? [11:45] He's sending a message that his top priority right now is to be with those who are downcast [11:53] and marginalized. [11:54] Coincidence that he's going there on July 4th? [11:57] I know at least one member of my archdiocese that would be happy, and she's green, and she's [12:05] on a little island just that belongs to New Jersey, and is technically part of the Archdiocese [12:10] of Newark. [12:11] And she's holding up a torch, and she's reading from a scroll, and it says, welcome. [12:19] So far in 2026, the Catholic Church in the U.S. has welcomed the largest number of converts [12:26] in recent years. [12:28] In Cardinal Tobin's archdiocese, there's an all-time high of new people joining the church. [12:35] Cardinal Tobin, do you think that surge in interest and attendance has something to do with [12:40] Pope Leo? [12:41] Yes, I do. [12:43] I've had the privilege of working closely with four popes, very different people in a lot [12:50] of ways. [12:51] But each one, in some way, was the right one for that moment in time. [12:56] I believe that Pope Leo is the right man at this time.