Did Trump cancel $11M grant to Catholic charity to 'punish' Pope Leo XIV? What we know

On April 15, 2026, the Miami Herald newspaper published an article saying President Donald Trump's administration canceled an $11 million contract with a Catholic charity in Miami that houses and cares for migrant children who enter the United States alone.

Shortly after, social media users claimed the federal government's decision to strip funding from the nonprofit, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami, was to "punish" Pope Leo XIV for criticizing the U.S. war with Iran. For example, one popular Facebook post (archived) read, in part:

BREAKING: Trump punishes Pope Leo for criticizing his Iran War by stripping $11 million from Catholic Charities in Florida that was supposed to help shelter and care for children who enter the country alone.

The rumor spread amid mounting perceived tensions between Washington and the Vatican, and speculation that comments Leo made earlier in April about peace through dialogue, not force, referred to the U.S. and Trump's war with Iran.

Other iterations of the claim circulated on X and Instagram (archived), while a Facebook page called the grant cancellation Trump's "revenge against Catholics." Snopes readers also searched the site and emailed us for more information.

In short, both the Archdiocese of Miami (which, as the name suggests, is tied to Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami) and the Office of Refugee Resettlement — the federal agency that managed the grant for and cooperated with Catholic Charities in sheltering migrant children — confirmed the ORR has decided not to continue the $11 million grant.

However, Snopes could not independently verify whether this decision was motivated by Trump wishing to "punish" the pope. None of the parties involved in or affected by the decision have suggested this was the motivation, as of this writing. The claim appears to be based on speculation; therefore, we have not given it a rating.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services, which operates the ORR, said via email the grant was completed and not renewed. They added that the ORR made the decision on Feb. 16, 2026 — prior to the U.S.-Israeli war with Iran and before Trump and Leo traded remarks regarding the conflict.

When asked why the funding was canceled or if similar grants had been shelved around the same time, the HHS spokesperson said:

The daily population of unaccompanied alien children in ORR care is significantly lower at 1,900 than the peak of 22,000 children during the Biden Administration. ORR is closing and consolidating unused facilities as the Trump Administration continues efforts to stop illegal entry and the smuggling and trafficking of unaccompanied alien children.

Snopes also contacted the Archdiocese of Miami and Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami to ask if either entities knew of other charities doing similar work that had seen their funding stripped. We also asked what each believed to be the reason the federal government discontinued the grant. We will update this story if we hear back from either.

The president (Page 5) of Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami is Archbishop Thomas Wenski, who also leads the Archdiocese of Miami. The two organizations are tied to one another. 

Archdiocese's charity work

According to its website, Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Miami "offers specialized shelter services for unaccompanied and undocumented minors, in a compassionate, multilingual and multicultural environment." The charity says it seeks to ensure the "physical, social, psychological, educational, and health needs" of each child in its care are met while the child's immigration case is processed.

The site also says the archdiocese's shelter services are only available for minors who Immigration and Customs Enforcement have detained and who are in ORR's custody.

Wenski said in an April 16 statement that the archdiocese has worked closely with the ORR since 1960 to provide shelter to unaccompanied minor children. For example, he cited a facility owned by its Catholic Charities branch that can house up to 81 minors, assists with placing children in foster care and reunites them with family members. Wenski also said it provides psychological care because many of the children it looks after suffered trauma before entering the U.S.

Wenski praised the Archdiocese of Miami's charity work, claiming it has "served as a model for other agencies throughout the country" and that its track record in serving unaccompanied minor children is "unmatched."

Grant's cancellation

The Miami Herald broke the news about the grant ending in its April 15 article, in which reporters said the federal government notified the archdiocese of its decision in late March.

According to Wenski's statement, the funding strip will force the Archdiocese of Miami's charity services for unaccompanied minors to shut down within three months.

At no point did he claim the grant was canceled because Trump wanted to "punish" the pope or the Catholic Church. Instead, his statement largely addressed the HHS' position that the cut was due to declines in the number of unaccompanied migrant children in its care.

Wenski said it is true there are fewer unaccompanied migrant children entering the country, as of this writing. He also added that it is "understandable that some programs may be scaled back or even eliminated" because of this. But even so, he remained critical of the grant's cancellation in his statement:

But given the history and reputation of the Msgr. Bryan O. Walsh Children's Village, it is baffling that the U.S. government would shut down a program that it would be hard-pressed to replicate at the level of competence and excellence that Catholic Charities has achieved if and when future waves of unaccompanied minors reach our shores.

HHS data does indicate a drop in the number of unaccompanied migrant children in the ORR's care for the last several years — a decline that began under the administration of former President Joe Biden and continued during Trump's second term. As of April 15, 2026, there remains more than 1,900 unaccompanied children in the department's care, according to its data.

For further reading, we've previously written numerous fact checks about quotes incorrectly attributed to Leo, several of which refer to Trump.