Castel Gandolfo, Italy — Castel Gandolfo, Italy (AFP) – Pope Leo XIV On Tuesday, he strongly supported US bishops who condemned the Trump administration’s crackdown on immigration and urged the American people to listen to them and treat immigrants humanely.
The first American pope in history was asked about the “special letter” adopted by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops during its general assembly last week. The text criticized the Trump administration’s mass deportation of immigrants and their “vilification” in the immigration debate. He expressed his regret Migration raids sowed fear and anxiety In communities, migrants are denied pastoral care in detention centres.
Liu, who has previously urged local bishops to take the lead in speaking out on social justice issues, said he appreciated the US bishops’ statement and urged Catholics and all people of good will to listen to what they had to say.
“I think we have to look for ways to treat people humanely, to treat people with the dignity that they have,” he said. Leo, born in Chicago. “If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to deal with that. There are courts, there is a justice system.”
Speaking to reporters as he left the papal country house south of Rome, Liu acknowledged problems with the US immigration system. But he stressed that no one said the United States should have open borders, and that every country has the right to decide who can enter and how.
He added: “But when people are living good lives, and many of them are living for 10, 15, 20 years, they are treated in a way that is absolutely disrespectful – and there has been some violence unfortunately – I think the bishops were very clear in what they said.”
“I would just call on all the people in the United States to listen to them.”
The bishops’ “special letter” was rare, marking the first time since 2013 that bishops had written such a single-issue statement at one of their meetings. It was accompanied by an Instagram video of individual bishops reading the text on camera, to get its message across.
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Nicole Winfield in Rome contributed.
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