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NEW: JD Vance flew to Rome to formally invite Pope Leo XIV to join America’s 250th anniversary celebration. The first American pope has declined — days after rejecting President Trump’s “Board of Peace” invitation. On July 4, he’ll be in Lampedusa, standing with migrants — not in Washington — drawing another stark line between the Trump-Vance White House and the Catholic Church under Leo.
In Another Break With Trump, Pope Leo Skips U.S. 250th Celebration for Migrant Island\
As Trump builds his presidency around America’s 250th anniversary, the pope heads to Europe’s most symbolic migrant crossing — days after rejecting the president’s “Board of Peace.”
Pope Leo XIV will celebrate this coming July 4 not in the United States for its 250th festivities, but on the tiny Italian island of Lampedusa — a migrant gateway in the Mediterranean.
The Vatican announced that on Independence Day the pope will travel to Lampedusa, ground zero of Europe’s migration crisis, instead of attending any U.S. 250th birthday events.
Coming just days after Pope Leo publicly rebuffed President Donald Trump’s invitation to join his “Board of Peace” initiative for Gaza, the decision reads as pointed counter-programming.
Once again, the American-born pontiff is choosing solidarity with the vulnerable over photo-ops with the powerful. “The Vatican will not participate in the Board of Peace for Gaza,” Leo’s Secretary of State flatly stated this week — a diplomatic no to a Trump-led plan many churchmen saw as a cynical, pay-to-play venture imposed on Palestinians.
Now, by opting to spend America’s Independence Day praying with migrants on a remote island, Pope Leo XIV is delivering another message in deeds. It’s not about disrespecting a national holiday — it’s about who and what our celebrations honor.
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