The pope has made welcoming migrants a key theme of his nearly 12-year papacy, and he has previously criticized Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric. During the 2016 election, he said Trump was "not Christian" in his view.

Vásquez was most recently selected by Francis to oversee the Diocese of Tyler, also in Texas, after he dismissed its former bishop, Joseph Strickland, who had openly accused the pope of being a heretic and called into question the validity of his leadership.

Pope Francis criticized Donald Trump's plans for the deportation of immigrants from the United States, calling them a "disgrace." He also emphasized that the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict lies in a two-state formula.

It’s also a topic which resonates personally with Francis. In his new autobiography, the Pope recalled how his paternal grandparents and father had planned to sail in 1927 on the Principessa Mafalda from Italy to Argentina, which sank with the loss of many lives, but ended up making a later crossing.

Francis' prayer for the 47th president followed a Sunday interview with Italian media in which he called Trump's proposed immigration policy 'a disgrace.'

The comments provided the latest indication of a potential renewal of friction between the Vatican and the next Trump White House.