Francis sent an open letter (Feb. 11) to U.S. bishops criticizing
alleged mass deportations of illegal migrants. It is unusual for a pope
to issue an open letter on an internal political matter, as the Vatican
usually leaves such responses to local bishops.
Francis wrote:
"One must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and protect
communities from those who have committed violent or serious crimes
while in the country or before arriving."
But he added:
"Nevertheless, the act of deporting people who, in many cases, have left
their own country for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity,
exploitation, persecution or serious environmental degradation, violates
the dignity of many men and women."
Francis even believes that
the "rightly formed conscience" must oppose "any measure that tacitly or
explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with
criminality."
He compared the exploited illegals to the hard-working and gold-owning Holy Family in exile, calling them "refugees" in Egypt.
The
unsaid truth: Church institutions have taken millions of government
funds to resettle illegal migrants in the West, causing unrest there.
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