Pope Leo XIV told NBC News he expects to visit the United States "in the next couple of years," the clearest timeline he has offered for a trip to the country where he was born. In the interview with NBC anchor Lester Holt, the 69-year-old pope also spoke about the role of immigration in American history and voiced his admiration for the nation's character.

Leo XIV said he loves "America's sense of freedom and welcome" during the interview, which Vatican News published on July 30, 2026. He described immigration as foundational to the United States, tying the theme to a message he has pressed repeatedly since his election. Vatican News

This is not Leo's first conversation with the American broadcaster. An earlier interview, published September 18, 2025, covered Donald Trump, sex abuse scandals, LGBTQ+ welcome, and China. That sit-down came roughly a week after his election as the first pope from the United States. NBC News His initial NBC interview in May 2025 had explored whether an American pope might draw people back to the Church. NBC News

A Chicago native and dual U.S. citizen, Leo XIV has made immigration a recurring theme when addressing Americans. On July 4, 2026, he marked the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence with an address delivered from Lampedusa, the Italian island that is a primary arrival point for migrants crossing the Mediterranean. In that speech, he appealed to Americans to welcome and protect immigrants. Reuters The choice of Lampedusa as the venue for a message aimed at the United States layered two migration contexts into one moment: the European migrant crisis and the American immigration debate.

Leo gave his first major address to his home country on July 3, 2026, the day before the Lampedusa speech, praising the United States' history of welcoming immigrants. Reuters The back-to-back addresses established immigration as a defining theme of his early outreach to American audiences.

The timeline for a U.S. visit is not immediate, however. The director of the Holy See Press Office confirmed in March 2026 that Leo XIV will not travel to the United States in 2026. Catholic News Agency His NBC interview places the prospective trip within a "couple of years" window, pointing to 2027 or 2028 at the earliest.

The broader context here is a pontiff calibrating his relationship with the United States from a distinctive vantage point. No previous pope has held American citizenship, and Leo XIV's dual nationality gives his statements on U.S. policy a character that papal commentary has not previously carried. His decision to address American immigration not from Rome or Washington but from Lampedusa signals a deliberate framing choice, connecting the U.S. debate to a global migration crisis the Vatican has long foregrounded. The NBC interviews, spread across fifteen months, suggest Leo is using the American network as a consistent channel to his home country's audience, building a narrative arc from his election through the semiquincentennial to a promised but still-distant homecoming.

What remains unresolved is the itinerary and political context of any future visit. A papal trip to the United States under the Trump administration would intersect with an immigration enforcement posture that Leo's own July 4 address implicitly challenged. Whether the "couple of years" timeline holds, and what substantive agenda accompanies a visit, will depend on Vatican diplomatic scheduling and the state of U.S.-Holy See relations at the time of travel.