Matteo Salvini, who's the leader of the anti-immigration Legga Nord party, said Roma people should have six months' notice before their gypsy camps are razed to the ground, according to the Italian news agency ANSA.
Before this, Mr Salvini also said Italians should give up their citizenship, move out of Italy and then move back in again as immigrants, because they get treated better.
In response, Cardinal Antonio Maria Veglio, the President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Itinerants, said: "These are extreme positions, absurd, like those who say 'Muslims? Kill them all.' Or, 'Migrants? They should all go home'."
Cardinal Veglio also called the comments "stupid".
Roma people are travellers or the descendants of travellers who originated from Northern India.
Racial discrimination contributes to disproportionately high levels of poverty among the community.
According to the Italian news outlet Gazzetta del Sud, Mr Salvini has responded to Cardinal Veglio's comments, saying: "It saddens me to hear such words come out of the mouth of a bishop."
"If I had sinned, the bishop's job would have been to put me on the right path, not to insult me.
"But I speak to the parish priests in the provinces, not the bishops who live in 300-square-meter apartments, perhaps even with servants."