The President of the United States, Donald Trump, met on January 12 at the White House with Archbishop Paul Coakley, recently elected president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), to address issues of “mutual interest,” including presumably immigration and the situation in Venezuela.
Msgr. Coakley, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, was elected president of the U.S. episcopate in November 2025, and this visit marked his first official meeting with the current president since assuming the position. The meeting was held behind closed doors and also included the presence of Vice President JD Vance and other high-ranking administration officials.
The USCCB spokesperson, Chieko Noguchi, explained in a subsequent statement that the meeting allowed for dialogue on shared topics and opened spaces for future conversations. “Archbishop Coakley appreciates the participation and looks forward to continuing the conversations,” she noted.
Immigration and International Policy
Although no concrete details were provided on the matters discussed, Aciprensa confirms that immigration is among the central topics of dialogue between the Church and the U.S. administration. Coakley himself had anticipated this possibility in an interview given on December 21, 2025, to the Face the Nation program on CBS News, where he stated that there were opportunities to “work together” and to “speak frankly” with the president.
Pope Leo XIV has reiterated on various occasions that immigrants must be treated with dignity, encouraging the faithful and U.S. society to heed the message of the country’s bishops on this matter.
Another possible issue addressed was the situation in Venezuela, especially following the recent U.S. military action to capture the Venezuelan president on January 4. In that context, the Pope publicly called for full respect for Venezuela’s national sovereignty and the human and civil rights of its population.
Recent Diplomatic Context
This Monday, January 12, Pope Leo XIV received Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado at the Vatican, in a gesture that underscores the Holy See’s attention to the serious political and humanitarian crisis facing the Latin American country.