Pope Leo XIV strongly supports US bishops' condemnation of Trump immigration raids: 'Extremely disrespectful'

Pope Leo XIV on Tuesday strongly affirmed U S bishops' message condemning the Trump administration s immigration sweeps calling on Americans to listen to the asylum seekers and treat them humanely and with dignity The pope was solicited about the special message the U S Conference of Catholic Bishops adopted during their general assembly last week in Baltimore The bishops blasted President Donald Trump's mass deportation agenda and the vilification of expatriates expressing concern over the fear and anxiety immigration raids stoking in communities as well as the denial of pastoral care to newcomers in detention centers We are disturbed when we see among our people a surroundings of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement the bishops message reads We are saddened by the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants We are concerned about the conditions in detention centers and the lack of access to pastoral care reads the bishops' announcement which also opposed the indiscriminate mass deportation of people US CATHOLIC BISHOPS VOTE TO OFFICIALLY PROHIBIT GENDER TRANSITION REHABILITATION AT CATHOLIC HOSPITALSLeo the first American pope declared he appreciated the U S bishops' message and encouraged Catholics and all people of goodwill to listen to treat foreigners with dignity even if they are in the country illegally I think we have to look for tactics of treating people humanely treating people with the dignity that they have Leo described reporters If people are in the United States illegally there are tactics to treat that There are courts there s a system of justice The pope has previously urged local bishops to speak out on social justice concerns Catholic leaders have been criticizing Trump's mass deportation plan as fear of immigration raids has slashed Mass attendance at specific parishes The federal governing body earlier this year reversed a Biden administration directive prohibiting immigration agents from carrying out raids at sensitive areas such as churches schools and hospitals Leo acknowledged problems with the U S migration system but he emphasized that nobody has argued for the U S to have open borders and that every country may choose who can enter and the methods to do so But when people are living good lives and multiple of them for years to treat them in a way that is extremely disrespectful to say the least and there s been specific violence unfortunately I think that the bishops have been very clear in what they noted he explained reporters as he left the papal country house south of Rome POPE LEO XIV CALLS OUT CHRISTIAN PERSECUTION AMID LATEST MASSACRE OF CIVILIANS IN AFRICAN NATION I would just invite all people in the United States to listen to them Leo added The bishops' special message was the first time since they had drafted a single-issue report at one of their meetings The Associated Press contributed to this assessment