Pope Frances clashed with the Trump administration and other governments about mistreatament of immigrants

Pope Frances: A beacon of humanity and kindness

Boston Globe Editorial Board echo:

Pope Frances Jorge Mario  Bergoglio Papacy (2013–2025)​​ Francis was the first Jesuit pope.

Pope Francis held the papacy during a period of global hostility toward immigrants — a trend he did his best to resist.

BBC: Many thousands queue to view the remains of Pope Frances.

By the time he died Monday at 88, Pope Francis was one of the last champions with global stature for the humanity of immigrants. 

In fact, the simple values that the Jesuit from Argentina never forsook — that migrants, like all the world’s vulnerable, should be treated with decency and compassion — have sadly fallen out of fashion in much of the developed world.

Autocrats are on the march across the globe, often demonizing immigrants to acquire power. At such a dark moment, Francis was determined to remain a beacon of humanity and kindness — a role we can only hope his successor will step into as well.

Caring for the poor, immigrants, or the natural world is currently not in style in the United States. Agencies like USAID have been gutted in the name of efficiency; foreign residents like Rümeysa Öztürk have been imprisoned for acts that are clearly protected by the First Amendment; and the National Park Service, like so many other parts of the federal government devoted to protecting the environment, is culling employees.

Also, the administration seems to take a particular (evil!) relish in punishing and humiliating immigrants, posting taunts on social media to boast of its deportations, some of them to a notoriously brutal prison in El Salvador.

Pope Francis was the antithesis of the Trump administration, not just in his approach to immigration. 

Moreover, Pope Frances famously rejected most of the pomp of his office, passing up the papal palace to live in a modest two-bedroom apartment and traveling in a Ford Focus rather than a Mercedes limo. He was decidedly low-tech, only using landlines and never owning a computer.

Repeatedly, Pope Frances clashed with the Trump administration and with other governments that he viewed as mistreating immigrants. 

In February, in a dismayed letter to US Bishops, Francis wrote, “What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.” Trump Border Czar Tom Homan replied, “He ought to focus on his work and leave enforcement to us.”

The legacy of Francis extends much further than US immigration policy, of course, and it is not universally positive. Putting abstract principles into practice consistently is inevitably fraught, especially when Francis’s progressive speech clashed with Catholic tradition.

Francis maintained traditional Catholic stances that view LGBTQ+ people as “intrinsically disordered,” and in March 2024 signed a declaration calling gender-affirming surgery “a grave violation of human dignity.” 

Nevertheless, not insignificantly, Pope Frances offered transgender people the right to be baptized and become godparents, and famously said “Who am I to judge❓” when asked about his stance on gay priests.

He also furthered reforms that enhanced accountability in the church regarding sexual abuse, but his handling of individual accusations — like a case involving Slovenian priest Marko Rupnik, an alleged rapist — have been critiqued as insufficient.

His legacy regarding women is equally complex; he promoted women to positions of power within the Vatican, but failed to alter the rules that ultimately bar them from becoming deacons or priests.

His most lasting contributions to the global dialogue were in his addresses and writings, in which he elevated Catholic teachings about mercy, human dignity, and care for the poor. His record in international affairs was mixed; he was sometimes accused of lacking the clarity of one of his predecessors as pope, Saint John Paul II, and of equivocating about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Yet there can be little doubt of the sincerity of his beliefs or of the consistency with which he proclaimed them. His was not simply an open-door philosophy: He also supported addressing the root causes of migration from impoverished countries.

Francis’s final audience was with US Vice President JD Vance, a strange coincidence considering that Vance is a staunch supporter of Trump’s hard-line (evil❗) deportation plans.

Francis had chided Vance, an adult convert to Catholicism, for these views in that February letter, and for misrepresenting Catholic beliefs about social responsibility by citing “ordo amoris” — the idea that Christian love is hierarchical, with responsibilities that slowly expand outward — to justify Trump’s America First agenda.

Francis wrote that true Christian love isn’t bound by small circles of interest.

Further, he argued that America’s criminalization of immigrants will lead to an ideology that ultimately “imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth.”

Immigration has been part of the human experience for millennia. 

In nearly every part of the world, attitudes toward immigrants have swung like a pendulum, from acceptance to resentment and back again. The Catholic Church, at its best, represents values that do not change because they are basic to humanity, like compassion for the vulnerable. It was Pope Francis’s fate to hold the papacy during a period of global retrenchment — a trend that will someday turn because of the work, and the example, of people like him.

Pope Francis 10 year anniversary: He is now the only Pope since Benedict XVI died

Cardinal Blase Joseph Cupich

On October 9, 2016, Pope Francis named him a Cardinal and he was elevated to the College of Cardinals in a consistory on November 19, 2016, at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City.

"The struggle is not just with the hierarchy in this country, but around the world,” Cardinal Cupich said. “It’s very clear there are even people in the Vatican who have opposed the pope from the get-go.”

American conservatives now have one Pope!

Cardinal Cupich on 10 years of Pope Francis: women, LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) Catholics, sex abuse and what comes next.

Echo article published in America the Jesuit review.

When Pope Francis named Blase Cupich as archbishop of Chicago in 2014, some interpreted the appointment as a signal that the pope sought to reorient the U.S. hierarchy. 

Francis, who was elected pope 10 years (March 13, 2013) ago on Monday, has spent the last decade reforming the Vatican bureaucracy and trying to implement his vision of a church that acts as what he describes as a field hospital, responding with mercy to the needs of ordinary Catholics. In the United States, home to a vocal group of Catholics who have challenged Francis’ vision, Cardinal Cupich has proven a key papal ally, acting as an interpreter of the pope’s message for Catholics here and advising Francis on key matters, including the appointment of new bishops and the church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations.

In a wide-ranging 30-minute interview with America, conducted in his downtown Chicago office, Cardinal Cupich reflected on what Pope Francis has accomplished so far. He described the Francis era as “a historic papacy” that comes at “a watershed moment” for the church. The cardinal, who turns 74 later this month, offered his thoughts on various hot-button issues that have dominated Francis’ papacy thus far, including calls to make the church more welcoming for L.G.B.T. people, the church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations and whether the church should open the diaconate to women.

Pope Francis was Pope Francis is the head of the Catholic Church, the bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City.

Pope Francis has faced criticism that he moves too slowly. 

But Cardinal Cupich said he believes this is a deliberate style of leadership, calling it “a very methodical, Jesuit way of doing things in terms of discernment. He’s not rash; he doesn’t make rash decisions.”

“He has a strategy of where he wants to go,” the cardinal said. “But he’s patient enough not to want to preempt it, realizing that things have to unfold organically.”

Since the earliest days of the Francis papacy, the pope has called on Catholics to be more welcoming to gays and lesbians. 

In recent months, another influential American bishop, Cardinal Robert McElroy of San Diego, suggested that the church should reconsider language in the Catechism that L.G.B.T. Catholics have said is particularly hurtful, including text that describes homosexuality as “objectively disordered.”

Asked if he agrees with the proposal to alter the language used in the Catechism, Cardinal Cupich said yes. “Anytime language comes across as hurtful to people, the church has an obligation to examine that,” he said. “I would hope that the church would always be willing to examine the way it speaks, especially if it’s made known to us that it’s hurtful and that it is categorically exclusive of individuals.”

Cardinal Cupich said that concepts present in church teaching can be preserved even while altering language to make it less “cold, calculated, harsh language that, in some ways, is a door-closer.”

He said that the church must express its teaching in ways that attract people to Jesus.

“Language has to be, in some way, speaking to people in a way that brings healing,” the cardinal said. “Maybe there are some concepts within an expression of doctrine that will have to be attended to, but that doesn’t mean that the language itself can’t change.”

The church’s handling of sexual abuse allegations:  In 2019, the Vatican adopted provisions aimed at providing recourse for victims of sexual abuse and holding bishops accountable in their handling of complaints. Recently, one the church’s top experts on child protection, Hans Zollner, S.J., told a group of survivors of sexual abuse that the procedures are not perfect and admitted that they sometimes are “not working.” Some advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse agree.

Asked about that claim, Cardinal Cupich, who helped formulate the guidelines, suggested that Rome could do more in terms of staffing and resources when it comes to the protection of children and vulnerable adults.

“We have to look at ‘Do the various dicasteries in Rome have the proper staffing in order to do this in a timely way?’” the cardinal said. He said there is a “willingness” among church leaders “to be faithful to ‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi,’” the document that lays out the procedures. But he acknowledged, “We need to do a better job.”

In 2019, the Vatican adopted provisions aimed at providing recourse for victims of sexual abuse and holding bishops accountable in their handling of complaints. 

Recently, one the church’s top experts on child protection, Hans Zollner, S.J., told a group of survivors of sexual abuse that the procedures are not perfect and admitted that they sometimes are “not working.” Some advocates for survivors of clergy sexual abuse agree.

Asked about that claim, Cardinal Cupich, who helped formulate the guidelines, suggested that Rome could do more in terms of staffing and resources when it comes to the protection of children and vulnerable adults.

“We have to look at ‘Do the various dicasteries in Rome have the proper staffing in order to do this in a timely way?’” the cardinal said. He said there is a “willingness” among church leaders “to be faithful to ‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi,’” the document that lays out the procedures. But he acknowledged, “We need to do a better job.”

“If we need increased staffing in order to take care of it, to do it in a timely way, then that should be done,” he said, adding that the church has challenges when it comes to staffing at every level. “‘Vos Estis Lux Mundi’ is a good structure, but the structure and document has to be implemented accordingly.”

Promoting a synodal church:  With the church in the midst of a years long effort to gather insight from Catholics around the world, known as the synodal process, Cardinal Cupich said “there’s work to do” when it comes to engaging U.S. Catholics in the effort.

“We have to make sure that voices of people that have not been heard before are heard,” the cardinal said. He added that it is important to help people understand that the synod is not viewed “as a parliamentary procedure” that could leave some Catholics disillusioned if their own hopes for change in the church are not realized.

“It’s not as though we’re taking a vote on something,” Cardinal Cupich said. “But we are listening, and we are dialoguing, to find the pathway forward. I think people are getting that. But it is a new concept.”

He said that communities of religious sisters have used a process similar to the synod in discerning their own future and hopes church leaders can find inspiration from them.

“I’ve seen that when I was in South Dakota [where he was bishop of the Diocese of Rapid City, S.D., from 1998 to 2010], with a group of Benedictine nuns, the way that they carefully considered and dialogued in a synodal way, in a way that calls for the voices of everybody to be included in the discussion, to make some very important decisions,” he said. “But it took patience.”

Francis recognizes part of his job is to keep Catholics united and “to make sure that people stay at the table and keep talking,” Cardinal Cupich said.

That can be difficult, the cardinal acknowledged, in an institution as large and diverse as the Catholic Church.

Asked about recent comments made by Bishop Thomas Paprocki of the Diocese of Springfield, Ill., who suggested that Cardinal McElroy could be guilty of heresy due to his calls to be more welcoming to L.G.B.T. Catholics, Cardinal Cupich said it was a “serious” matter that will have to be addressed. But he said he did not believe that such accusations wield the “power to upset the whole process” of church reform.

Restrictions on the pre-Vatican II Mass:  Last month, Pope Francis reaffirmed restrictions on celebrating the pre-Vatican II Mass, reminding bishops that they must obtain permission from the Holy See and that they cannot interpret the decree in a way that differs from Rome’s intent. The restrictions on the Latin Mass have generated significant pushback from some Catholics, especially in the United States. But Cardinal Cupich said bishops have a duty to help believers in their dioceses understand why the restrictions exist in the first place.

“It’s because the [post-Vatican II] liturgy is the vehicle by which the full teachings of the church are being accepted by people today,” he said, pointing to the teachings of Pope John Paul II, as he also did in a recent essay for America. “That’s key.”

He said that helping Catholics understand that the Holy Spirit guided the Second Vatican Council, including its decrees on liturgy, is an essential task for bishops.

“There’s no two ways around that,” he said. “John Paul II said that, and Francis is doing it.”

Asked if he worried that devotees of the pre-Vatican II Mass could feel alienated by the restrictions, the cardinal said yes, but he added, “I think that that’s where the role of a bishop comes. The bishop has to show some leadership here,” especially when it comes to catechesis. “We don’t want to alienate people,” he said. “But there is a truth that the Holy Father is identifying, that bishops have a responsibility to promote.”

Women in the life of the church:  In 2016, Pope Francis established a commission to study whether the church had ever admitted women to the diaconate. The findings, he said at the time, would help him discern whether to restore the practice, which could open leadership positions for women in the church. Three years later, Francis said the commission had not come to any agreement and the issue needed further study. Some critics have grown frustrated with Francis, accusing him of stalling rather than making a clear decision.

But Cardinal Cupich said, “if the Holy Father hasn’t acted on it,” it is probably because he has “serious concerns.” On the other hand, he said, it is possible that Francis “has a long-term strategy here and it’s going to unfold in an incremental and organic way.”

The future of the U.S. hierarchy and the papacy:  Pope Francis has appointed about half of the bishops in the United States, but there is still significant skepticism of the pope’s agenda from some in the U.S. hierarchy. Cardinal Cupich said opposition to the pope’s vision for the church is not confined to the United States.

“The struggle is not just with the hierarchy in this country, but around the world,” he said. “It’s very clear there are even people in the Vatican who have opposed the pope from the get-go.”

But Cardinal Cupich said Francis is “not daunted by it. He just moves forward.”

Several leaders of large U.S. dioceses are at or approaching 75, the age at which bishops must submit their letters of resignation to the pope; they include Cardinal Cupich, who turns 74 later this month. That means Francis could have the opportunity to continue reshaping the U.S. hierarchy.

Cardinal Cupich, who advises the pope on the selection of bishops, said Francis has been clear from the beginning that he wants pastors who are close to their flocks.

“He wants people who are well-educated, who are faithful to the teachings of the church, and [who] realize being faithful to church also means having a pastoral outreach to people that unites,” he said. “I think that’s the legacy of this papacy.”

As for the next pope, Francis has not said for certain whether he will retire, like his predecessor, Pope Benedict XVI, or stay in office until his death. Asked what he thinks the church needs in a future leader, Cardinal Cupich laughed, recalling a toast he gave when he was elevated to cardinal in 2016: “That the pope will have a long life and that I may never have to vote in a conclave.”

Pope Benedict XVI died December 31, 2022

But should he have a vote—cardinals can vote in conclaves until they turn 80—he said the church will benefit from the leadership of a pope who is “faithful to the tradition.”

“And the tradition, of course, means the handing-on of what has immediately preceded it, not just 2,000 years ago, or 1,500 years ago, or 500 years ago,” he said.

But Cardinal Cupich said trying to predict the future of the papacy is a fool’s errand, noting how few people thought the cardinals would elect then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio in 2013.

“I think that we have to be attentive to the fact, as the pope has said, that God is full of surprises,” Cardinal Cupich said. “And I want to be surprised. I like surprises.”

Slavery reparations initiative has a long-term goal of raising $1 billion.

In my opinion, this chilling history of slavery sales is especially troubling in light of other missionary Jesuits who worked with Native Americans and South Americans, sacrificing their lives and suffering extraordinary torture, to Evangelize in colonized nations like Canada and the Southeast Asian nations.

Echo report by Jack Jenkins published in Religious News Service:

WASHINGTON (Religious News Service) — The Society of Jesus has announced plans to raise $100 million for the descendants of enslaved people it once claimed to own, making the Roman Catholic order’s initiative one of the largest financial efforts by any group to try to atone for the institution of slavery and address racial injustice in the United States.

The initiative, first reported by The New York Times, operates in partnership with the GU272 Descendants Association, which takes its name from the 272 people enslaved and sold by Georgetown University. The groups formed the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, which represents more than 10,000 descendants and stems from the revelation that members of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits, used profits from slavery to finance clergy and construct schools — including Georgetown.

In addition to raising $100 million for descendants and racial reconciliation efforts, the initiative maintains a longer-term goal of raising $1 billion, according to America Magazine.

“From our inception, the GU272 Descendants Association has chosen to identify and rebuild our ancestors’ families that were separated and often destroyed by the brutal institution of slavery and to create a sustainable mechanism for investing forward in uplifting descendants for many generations to come,” Cheryllyn Branche, president of the GU272 Descendants Association, said in a press release.

“Through the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, we will restore honor and dignity to our ancestors by institutionalizing these goals for our children, our children’s children, and descendants for centuries to come.”

The GU272 group first approached the Rev. Arturo Sosa, the Jesuit superior general, in 2017, after learning about the order’s historical reliance on slavery.

Sosa responded by apologizing for the Society of Jesus’ actions and declaring, “Jesuit slaveholding in the United States, and in particular the sale of 272 enslaved persons from the Jesuits in southern Maryland to purchasers in Louisiana, was both a sin and a betrayal because the Society robbed your ancestors of their human dignity.”

Joseph Stewart, acting president of the Descendants Truth and Reconciliation Foundation, noted that “for more than 400 years, our country has denied the persistent human destruction caused by slavery and the conscious and unconscious racism that divides our communities and nation.”

According to the press release, Stewart is also one of the more than 1,000 descendants of Isaac Hawkins, one of many enslaved people who were “sold to save Georgetown University from financial ruin.” In 2017, Georgetown renamed a building in Hawkins’ honor.

Stewart added: “After 182 years, Descendants and Jesuits have come together in the spirit of truth, racial healing and reconciliation, uniquely positioning the Descendants Truth & Reconciliation Foundation to set an example and lead America through dismantling the remnants of slavery and mitigating the presence of racism.”

The Jesuits’ initiative is one of several ongoing campaigns among faith groups to offer reparations for slavery and combat racial inequality. In January, several Episcopal churches in Maryland committed hundreds of thousands of dollars to reparations and racial justice campaigns in the state. 

In August of last year, Middle Collegiate Church in New York pledged $200,000 — about a tenth of its budget — to provide housing assistance and youth anti-racism training as part of a reparations effort.

Paul Ryan is wrong to fire Jesuit who prays for the poor

Shame on Speaker Ryan! Father Ryan prayed truth to power.

Daniella Diaz, Deirdre Walsh, Sunlen Serfaty, Lauren Fox and Daniel Burke

(In my opinion, the Republican support to fire the Jesuit Father Pat Conroy was an anti-Catholic move, made to put an Evangelical in the position.  It makes no sense that Father Conroy was asked to resign as the Chaplain for the House of Representatives, without cause.)

“Catholic members on both political parties are furious,” said the Rev. Patrick J. Conroy (picture right), who has served as the House chaplain since 2011. CreditTom Williams/CQ Roll Call, via Associated Press

Republicans grill Ryan over House chaplain firing ~ Father 

(CNN) At least two Republican House members confronted Speaker Paul Ryan on Friday, morning at their caucus meeting over the firing of the House chaplain, multiple Republicans coming out of the meeting Friday told CNN.

One of the members who brought up concerns was New York Republican Rep. Pete King, who said afterward that Ryan's explanation for asking the Rev. Father Pat Conroy, a Jesuit priest, to resign was "unsatisfactory." Both King and Ryan are Catholic.

"To me it was an unsatisfactory answer," King said. "It is such an unprecedented action to be to only be taken for very, very serious issues. And the speaker said it was just because certain people said he was not complying with their request or was not giving good counsel. I never heard that from anyone. Anyone who I know who deals with him has the highest regard for him."

Jesuits close to Conroy told CNN that Ryan's office asked Conroy to come by the speaker's office around the Easter recess. 

Father Conroy was told he was being asked to resign but not told why. It was kind of a "thanks for your service, Padre" kind of conversation, Jesuits close to Father Conroy described to CNN.

The sources said Father Conroy was particularly perplexed because he has made strong friendships with Republicans in his seven years as chaplain and genuinely does try to stay out of politics.

Just a few days before he was asked to resign, he told Catholics in California that he is "in the one job in the US where I absolutely have to abstain from politics!"

In fact, Father Conroy resigned April 15 after he spent nearly seven years praying at the outset of House sessions. 

Also, Father Conroy wrote two versions of his resignation letters, which were both obtained by CNN by a congressional source. 

In the first letter, he writes that Ryan should consult with his chief of staff on a resignation date, but the second letter stated that May 24, would be his last day.

Republican Speaker Ryan's reasons

It's not immediately clear why Father Conroy was asked to resign. CNN reported Thursday that Ryan requested the House chaplain resign from his post earlier this month, and several prominent Democratic lawmakers want to know more information as to why the Jesuit priest was asked to step down.

On Thursday, Ryan's spokesperson AshLee Strong denied that Father Conroy was pushed out for anything he said or did, but she didn't elaborate on what triggered the resignation request.

"The speaker consulted with the minority leader, but the decision was his," she told CNN in a statement. "He remains grateful for Father Conroy's service."

According to a person who attended Friday's conference meeting, Speaker Ryan explained that he asked Father Conroy to resign "based on member feedback about pastoral care." (MaineWriter ~ Hello? Speaker Ryan has no conscience, because he knows zero about "pastoral care".)

A separate GOP member who attended the meeting said Republican Ryan "didn't say this as bluntly but the reason for the change is that many of us like Father Conroy, but we feel like he didn't do anything. We never see him. We never hear from him. We'd like to have a more active Priest/Pastor."

At the meeting, King asked Ryan if the decision was made due to any political pressure or political motivation. Ryan responded "no" and disputed the notion that it was related to a prayer in October about tax reform.

Republicans praise fired Father Conroy and don't know why he was fired.  When asked what reasons Ryan gave in the caucus meeting for why the chaplain was fired, GOP Rep. Doug Lamborn was at a total loss for words.

GOP Rep. Mark Walker refuted rumors circulating among House members that he told Ryan he wanted a minister with a family to take over as House chaplain.

"I have no problem, Catholic, bishop, priest, male or female, my only point was that they would have some familial experience or family-based ministry," Walker told CNN. "What they thought I was talking about was somebody that had to be married -- not at all. We would want somebody who had some experience dealing with issues and families."

When asked what prompted his remarks, he said he never complained about the chaplain.

"I never even had any interaction with him ... I never complained to Paul," he said. "I know there were multiple members who did."
GOP Rep. Tom Rooney, a Catholic, told CNN before Friday's votes that he "loved" the Chaplain and that he was "a great priest." 

He voted "present" for the motion to investigate the chaplain firing.
"I think he is a great priest," he said. "Obviously, the Catholic Church and the Republican Party don't always marry up and neither does the Catholic Church and the Democratic Party, so I don't think it's supposed to be a litmus test on whether or not it fits neatly into one party or another."

Democrats want answers
New York Democratic Rep. Joseph Crowley offered a privileged resolution on the House floor, trying to force investigation about firing of the chaplain. It was eventually voted down by the House.


Democratic Rep. Gerry Connolly, who is Catholic, told CNN Thursday he wasn't sure why Ryan made the decision and wants the Wisconsin Republican to answer questions over "this breach that he created." 

Connoly's office was among several circulating a letter Friday afternoon signed by 148 members "requesting information on his decision to remove the House chaplain."

An aide for House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told CNN she made it clear to Ryan that she had only received positive comments about Father Conroy's service from House lawmakers. 

Additionally, the aide also said Pelosi, who is also Catholic, made it clear to Ryan that she disagreed with his decision.

Pelosi released a statement Friday saying Father Conroy "ministered to the needs" of members and that his term had been a "blessing of grace and dignity."

"It is truly sad that he made this decision, and it is especially bewildering that he did so only a matter of months before the end of his term," Pelosi said. 

"The Speaker did this knowing that he had no power to fire Father Conroy and instead chose to force him out by demanding his resignation."

Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a Methodist pastor for more than 30 years, went straight to the speaker's office on Thursday and told his chief of staff that Ryan's move to fire the House chaplain was "ugly" and "awful."

Shame on Speaker Ryan for irresponsible firing of the Jesuit Father Conroy

Cleaver delivered that message after he met with Father Conroy to hear about why he was told he needed to go and was told that Jonathan Burks, the top aide to the speaker asked him to step down and gave him the letter to sign.
The Missouri Democrat tried to meet with Ryan personally but ended up having a 30 minute meeting with Burks, who he said was "cordial and listened."

Cleaver noted that the Jesuit's career and reputation is forever damaged by the episode, "I am extremely pained by the new ways that we can tell the public that we are dysfunctional," an emotional Cleaver told reporters off the House floor on Friday.

American Catholic Bishops support DACA

Roman Catholics must stand behind support for immigrants. Virtually 100 percent of all Roman Catholics who are not descended from Native Americans are themselves descendents of immigrants. We are the children of parents who came here to build better lives for our generation. We are DACA!

MaineWriter:  I support DACA because it's protecting children! In a vicarious way, we are all DACA

Dferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) 

Although the five sterile words that describe the DACA acryonmy are, frankly, meaningless when they stand alone, the fact of the matter is, when put into a lable, they are a cruel label.

A Jesuit priest friend explained to me how DACA describes children who came to the US with their parents who were undocumented immigrants.  In fact, that's true enough from a policy perspective, but in an existetial sense, we are all DACA.

Here is the Roman Catholic Bishops statement published in July 2017, to support DACA:

Support For DACA; Calls On Administration And Congress To Ensure Permanent Protection For DACA Youth

July 18, 2017
WASHINGTON, DC— Over 750,000 youth have received protection from Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) since its inception by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in 2012. While DACA provides no legal status, it does provide recipients with a temporary reprieve from deportation and employment authorization for legal work opportunities in the United States.

In response to the recent petition to the U.S. Department of Justice to terminate DACA, Bishop Joe S. Vásquez, Chair of the Migration Committee and Bishop of Austin, Texas, expressed support for DACA once again, stating:

Catholic Bishops have long supported DACA youth and continue to do so. DACA youth are contributors to our economy, veterans of our military, academic standouts in our universities, and leaders in our parishes.

These young people entered the U.S. as children and know America as their only home. The dignity of every human being, particularly that of our children and youth, must be protected.

I urge the Administration to continue administering the DACA program and to publicly ensure that DACA youth are not priorities for deportation.

However, DACA is not a permanent solution; for this reason, I also call on Congress to work in an expeditious and bipartisan manner to find a legislative solution for DACA youth as soon as possible. My brother bishops and I pledge continuing efforts to help find a humane and permanent resolution that protects DACA youth. Additionally, I note the moral urgency for comprehensive immigration reform that is just and compassionate. The bishops will advocate for these reforms as we truly believe they will advance the common good.Lastly, to DACA youth and their families, please know that the Catholic Church stands in solidarity with you. We recognize your intrinsic value as children of God. We understand the anxiety and fear you face and we appreciate and applaud the daily contributions you make with your families, to local communities and parishes, and to our country. Roman Catholics and the American Bishops support you on your journey to reach your God-given potential.

Vatican- Pope Francis challenges the ecumenism of hate

"The word 'ecumenism' transforms into a paradox, into an 'ecumenism of hate.' - La Civiltà Cattolica

ROME, Italy- An Italian Jesuit magazine has criticized the political attitudes of some in the U.S. Catholic church, decrying in an article released July 13 a "strange form of surprising ecumenism" that it says is promoting societal conflict in pursuit of a dream of a future theocratic state.  

(In other words, the ecumenical alliance being challenged is a regressive attempt to put religion into politics, whereby the dialogue is bonded in fundamentalism.)

The article in La Civiltà Cattolica, which is reviewed by the Vatican before publication, says some Catholic conservatives in the U.S. have built ties with fundamentalist evangelicals for political purposes that evince "enormous differences" with Pope Francis.

The authors — editor-in-chief Jesuit Fr. Antonio Spadaro and Marcelo Figueroa, an Argentine Presbyterian pastor who leads his country's edition of Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano — call such Catholics "integralists" and say they "express themselves in ways that until recently were unknown in their tradition."

"Evangelical and Catholic integralists condemn traditional ecumenism and yet promote an ecumenism of conflict that unites them in the nostalgic dream of a theocratic type of state," write Spadaro and Figueroa.

"The most dangerous prospect for this strange ecumenism is attributable to its xenophobic and Islamophobic vision that wants walls and purifying deportations," they continue, nodding towards President Donald Trump's campaign promises. "The word 'ecumenism' transforms into a paradox, into an 'ecumenism of hate.'

"Clearly there is an enormous difference between these concepts and the ecumenism employed by Pope Francis with various Christian bodies and other religious confessions," the authors continue. "His is an ecumenism that moves under the urge of inclusion, peace, encounter and bridges."

Spadaro and Figueroa write in the July 15 issue of the Jesuit magazine (available online July 13). While their article is being published in Italian, the magazine is also making available an English translation. 

The article carries the title: "Evangelical Fundamentalism and Catholic Integralism: A surprising ecumenism."

Spadaro is known to be a close associate of Francis. The two had a wide-ranging interview shortly after Francis' election, which was published in Jesuit magazines around the world.

Figueroa is likewise known to be close to the pope. The two previously took part in a TV program together for the Buenos Aires Archdiocese, where Francis had previously served as archbishop, with Rabbi Abraham Skorka.

The article appears to be an unusually sharp critique of Catholics in a specific country by a Vatican-backed publication. 

Before decrying the alliance between fundamentalist evangelicals and conservative Catholics in the U.S., Spadaro and Figueroa also criticize what they call a "political Manichaeism" and "a particular form of proclamation of the defense of  'religious liberty' " in the country.

On the first point, the authors say that like the third-century Manicheans, who saw the world as a dualistic fight between forces of light and darkness, U.S. politics "divides reality between absolute Good and absolute Evil."

As evidence, they point to both former President George W. Bush's description of Iran, Iraq and North Korea as an "axis of evil" and Trump's describing U.S. adversaries as "bad" or "very bad."

On the religious liberty front, Spadaro and Figueroa say that while the erosion of religious liberty is "clearly a grave threat" that "we must avoid its defense coming in the fundamentalist terms of a 'religion in total freedom,' perceived as a direct virtual challenge to the secularity of the state."

The authors conclude their article by drawing more comparisons between conservative U.S. Catholics' vision for public engagement and the pope's own vision.

"Today, more than ever, power needs to be removed from its faded confessional dress, from its armor, its rusty breastplate," state Spadaro and Figueroa.

"This is why the diplomacy of the Holy See wants to establish direct and fluid relations with the superpowers, without entering into pre-constituted networks of alliances and influence," they continue.

"In this sphere, the pope does not want to say who is right or who is wrong for he knows that at the root of conflicts there is always a fight for power," they say. "So, there is no need to imagine a taking of sides for moral reasons, much worse for spiritual ones."

[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent. His email address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter: @joshjmac.]
Antonio Spadaro
Marcelo Figueroa
Pope Francis
Donald Trump
George W. Bush
Evangelicalism
religious freedom
La Civiltà Cattolica
Presbyterians

Commentary: Immigration response for Pope Francis

Americans must rise to the occasion and accept more refugees.

Father John Michalowoski, s.j. calls for response to accept refugees.

Dear Julie, (writes Father John)

Pope Francis in Greece

I agree with much of what you have said about the Pope bringing 12 refugees with him to Rome. He is trying to enlighten people’s consciences. However there is a glaring omission. What about the U.S.? We could accept 50,000 refugees a year for a number of years. We did more than that after Vietnam and for Cubans who fled their country. In doing so, we would simply be following the good example of our Canadian neighbors who are accepting more than 25,000 this year. Instead we are caught up in the zenophobia of many presidential candidates.

Secondly, although many Muslim nations are closed to the refugees, clearly Jordan (over 90% Muslim) and Lebanon (over 60%) are doing more than their share. Somewhere between 20-25 % of each nation’s population are refugees. Turkey also has millions of refugees, though it is a much larger country (perhaps 75 million) and treats them rather poorly.

A third point is to recognize the fact that Pope Francis went to Lesbos with the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholemeo and the Greek Patriarch. Catholic and Orthodox Christianity are united in preaching the message that all are called to care for their neighbor in distress, as Jesus taught in the Parable of the Good Samaritan. Although popes since Saint John XXIII have worked with the Ecumenical Patriarchs of Constantinople, this is the first time that I can think of where the Greek Patriarch has participated.

Peace in the Risen Lord Jesus,  John, SJ

(Maine Writer- what I don't understand is how one evil man, President Assad of Syria, can continue to be the root cause of such horrific humanitarian carnage. He is just one man.)