Compassion and Consequences

Pope Leo XIV made headlines this week (video of Karoline Leavitt Addressing Pope’s remarks here) by defending a Chicago diocese’s plan to honor Senator Dick Durbin for his immigration work, despite Durbin’s well-known support for abortion rights. The Pope urged Catholics to assess politicians on their full record, suggesting that pro-life convictions must encompass not only abortion but also issues like capital punishment and immigration.

On the surface, this sounds like a call for consistency. After all, Christians should affirm the sanctity of every human life because every person is made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). But the Pope’s framing leaves us with an important question: how do we reconcile compassion for vulnerable people with accountability for lawless actions?

Romans 13:1–4 gives us clarity:

“Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God… For he is the servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer.”

Government exists under God’s authority to reward what is good and punish what is evil. This means:

• The abortionist who takes an innocent life is guilty of bloodshed and must be opposed with all moral seriousness. Ultimately, the law should view this act as murder, unless it is medically required to save the life of the mother.
• The illegal alien who breaks the law to enter a nation illegally has committed an act of lawlessness and should face the just penalty and lose their right to ever become a citizen of said country.

Both lives matter. Both actions carry consequences.

The Scriptures forbid us from mistreating the foreigner or despising the vulnerable (Exodus 22:21; Leviticus 19:33–34). An illegal alien must still be treated with dignity as a bearer of God’s image. Abuse, exploitation, or hatred have no place in Christian practice.

But compassion does not erase accountability. To conflate mercy with lawlessness is to undermine both justice and love. True compassion works hand in hand with truth:

• To the unborn child: protection.
• To the mother in crisis: help and hope.
• To the illegal alien: consequences addressed in 8 U.S.C. § 1325 and other pertinent statutes.

One danger in broadening “pro-life” to cover every social issue is that it can blur moral distinctions. Abortion is the intentional killing of innocent life. So-called immigration is not morally equivalent. Both demand Christian reflection, but one represents the greatest injustice of our age, the other emerged from a lack of law enforcement under a number of Presidential administrations.

That biblical position demands that we: extend dignity to every person, defend the unborn with urgency, and uphold the rule of law without apology.

Pope Leo XIV is right that a pro-life vision must be consistent. But consistency does not mean moral equivalence, and compassion does not erase accountability. The church must stand for both: the sacredness of every life, and the necessity of lawful order.

Anything less distorts both justice and grace.