Safe to say, traditional Catholics repelled by the liberal views of the late Pope Francis are not finding much relief under its new pontiff.

In October, Pope Leo took yet another sharp-tongued and sarcastic aim at President Donald Trump for ejecting illegal immigrants from America, likening it to abortion and implying he is a hypocrite. "Someone who says I am against abortion but in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don't know if that's pro life," the Bishop of Rome pondered out loud to media from his luxe Castel Gandolfo digs in Italy.

Castel Gandolfo, for the record, is part of the pontifical headquarters better known as the Vatican. It is home to the Pope's main residence, the Apostolic Palace, a sprawling edifice that is a staggering 1.7 million square feet in size and boasts 1,000 rooms. To put that in perspective, Pope Leo lives in a building that is about one acre in size.

The palace itself is surrounded by 135 acres that make up Vatican City, which has a small residential population of only 600 permanent residents, which translates into a ton of open space. The luxe property consists of elaborate gardens, an observatory, and tennis courts and would enrapture anyone living there. It is definitely large enough to shelter hundreds if not thousands of illegal immigrants.

But here's the catch. They're not allowed.

Vatican City, as it turns out, emphasizes that it is a sovereign state, much like the United States, and not only doesn't permit open borders and thus open door policies, it has some of the strictest laws against what it calls "illegal entry." They were stepped up in 2023 by Pope Francis under a new doctrine called the "Fundamental Law" and last December, at the peak of the Advent season, were harshened in a new five-page decree issued by the Vatican.

Written in Italian, its title translates to "Decree for the Vatican City State Concerning Illicit Entry Into The Territory Of the Vatican City State."

Since taking office in May, Pope Leo has upheld the pontifical "illegal entry" laws, which includes hefty fines and hefty prison terms.

They are enforced by the Vatican's heavily-armed Swiss Guard and a tactical team known as the Gendarmerie Corps.

Nevertheless, with Christmas just around the corner, Pope Leo was back at his no-foreigners fortress singing what you might call a hollow version of "Silent Night" in response to a mock "deportation" of Baby Jesus and the rest of the Holy Family from a nativity scene. In their place, Boston priest Stephen Josoma, staked down a giant sign amidst the makeshift hay-covered manger "ICE WAS HERE." There was no denunciation from the papacy for the desecration of the sacred Catholic display.

Of course, the antipodal cant of the Vicar of Christ is nothing new. When Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago caught flack for picking abortion fanatic Senate Democratic whip Dick Durbin as a recipient for the church's lifetime achievement award for his support of immigrants, who but sided with the controversial choice was none other than Windy City native Pope Leo.

"I think it's important to look at the overall work that a senator has done during, if I'm not mistaken, in 40 years of service in the United States Senate,' His Holiness declared.

Durbin is not just pro-abortion, he is a leading lobbyist for late-term abortions. In fact, earlier this year, he slammed the Republican-led Born-Alive Abortion Survivors Protection Act.

Pope Leo then went on to vigorously accurse climate change deniers. In a theatrical move, he stood alongside Terminator actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as he laid his pious hand on a large block of glacier ice transported from 3,000 miles aboard a fuel-guzzling freighter from Greenland to Rome.

The pontiff proceeded to pray for the wretched souls who have, he lamented, ignored the "cry of the Earth."

The pontiff has also pledged his solidarity to Palestine. But has never once publicly censured the grisly Oct. 7 attacks carried out by the Palestinian military group Hamas against Israeli civilians.

And while several Catholic leaders, including both cardinals and bishops, released statements condemning the murder of Jewish couple Sarah Milgram and Yaron Lischinsky outside the Jewish Museum in Washington D.C., there appears to have been no statement released from the Pope.

To boot, just a few months after taking up the $40 million-valued gold throne the Pope sits on at the Vatican, he bothered to criticize -- not outgoing President Joe Biden for pardoning several convicted rapists including Marvin Gabrion who was also convicted of killing an 11-month-old baby -- but instead Vice President JD Vance for saying that loving one's family comes before loving others.

Perhaps the Catholic church needs to add an Eleventh Commandment -- thou shalt commit political posturing.

Peter Isely, Global Advocacy Chair of the group Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) is among a chorus of Catholics who have expressed outrage over the Pope's polarizing missions. He charged the Italian prelate with sitting on a "giant mound of hypocrisy" after Leo scrapped the church's "zero tolerance policy" and appointed priest sex crime concealant Archbishop Filippo-Iannone to oversee allegations against priests.

After his appointment, Iannone, according to Isely, promptly instructed the Dicastery for Legislative Texts to avoid publishing anything about would damage the "good reputation" of priests accused of rape and sexual assault. Meanwhile, Pope Leo decided to levy some more minimis broadsides against parishioners, this time, for referring to Mary, the Holy Mother of God, as a co-redeemer, saying only Jesus can bear the title.

Apparently, co-redemptrix, a title which dates back to the second century and widely used since the fifteenth century by the Catholic leaders including popes, bucks church tradition.

Meanwhile in September, the Pope allowed the display of a rainbow-colored crucifix at the Vatican as part of some LGBTQ+ Catholic pilgrimage. In an article spurning the pride cross as blasphemous, the Christian outlet Charisma Magazine asked "What has happened to the Vatican?”

Good question.

Image: Edgar Beltrán, The Pillar