On July 4th, Pope Leo asks United States, Europe: Who is your neighbor?

VATICAN CITY (RNS) – This 4 th of July, on the 250 th anniversary of the signing of the United States Declaration of Independence, the first American-born pope chose to spend the day in the Mediterranean island of Lampedusa, a symbol of the immigrant influx polarizing the political debate in Europe.

The same day, Pope Leo XIV also issued a letter to the United States, reminding the country of its duty to uphold religious freedom and the respect of human life, including the unborn and immigrants.

In the letter, Leo described religious freedom as among “the most cherished” of America’s founding principles, allowing people to worship freely, without coercion or fear. He also pointed to “the God-given dignity of every human life” as a guiding principle that “leads to recognizing the importance of safeguarding human life from its beginning at conception until natural death,” including the vulnerable and forgotten.

“Defending human life also includes welcoming, protecting and assisting immigrants, whose hopes, sacrifices and contribution have formed part of the history of this country from its very beginning,” Leo write.

The pope recognized the role that immigrants have had in…