By Joshua McElwee
VATICAN CITY (Reuters) -Pope Leo's recent criticisms of U.S. President Donald Trump's anti-immigration policies are emboldening Catholic efforts to help immigrants caught up in the administration's
hardline crackdown, senior U.S. Church leaders say.
After Leo called on Tuesday for "deep reflection" in the U.S. about the administration's treatment of immigrants, several top bishops as well as the country's main network of Catholic nuns and its national charity federation told Reuters they would step up their work.
"Pope Leo's comments strengthen the resolve of those of us in the United States who remain deeply committed to welcoming the stranger," said Kerry Alys Robinson, president and CEO of Catholic Charities USA, a national federation of 168 Catholic charity agencies.
Leo, the first U.S. pope, has been ramping up his disapproval of the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants.
"There's a deep reflection that needs to be made in terms of what's happening," the pontiff said on Tuesday, when asked about the condition of migrants detained at a federal facility in Broadview, Illinois, near Chicago.
"I know how much it means to detainees and their families that Pope Leo is paying close attention to the suffering of migrants and their families here," Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich told Reuters.
Cupich, who leads an archdiocese including about 2 million Catholics, said the Church's teachings about helping immigrants cannot be disregarded.
"This is not some abstract value that people who say they are Christian can easily ignore," said the cardinal. "No, this is the kind of moral imperative that is tested in the here and now."
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security, which oversees the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Broadview, said in a statement on Wednesday that detainees there are held under humane conditions and receive three meals a day.
White House spokeswoman Abigail Jackson said President Trump was elected based on commitments to American voters that included deporting "criminal illegal aliens".
"He is keeping his promise to the American people," Jackson told Reuters.
POPE RAMPING UP CRITICISM OF TRUMP POLICIES
Leo, originally from the Chicago area, was elected in May to replace the late Pope Francis. He tends to take a more cautious tone in public than his predecessor, who often grabbed headlines with surprise, off-the-cuff remarks.
But Leo has been steadily increasing his criticisms of Trump. In September, the pope said the U.S. administration's treatment of immigrants was "inhuman", in comments that drew a heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics.
Some critics, who had earlier praised the new pope for his more reserved style, have expressed shock that Leo continues to criticize Trump, who is seen as a champion by many conservatives around the world.
After the pope's remarks in September, White House Press secretary Karoline Leavitt said she rejected the characterisation of inhumane treatment of immigrants in the U.S.
It is unusual for the leader of the 1.4-billion-member Church to comment directly on politics in any individual country. Vatican officials said Leo cares especially deeply about the treatment of immigrants.
Cardinal Michael Czerny, a close advisor to Leo, said the pope is "expressing the concerns that should be in the heart of every Christian and of every citizen."
"The Golden Rule, in other words: Do unto others as you would wish them to do unto you," said Czerny.
U.S. BISHOPS TO DISCUSS IMMIGRANTS AT ANNUAL MEETING
El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz, who leads a Catholic diocese spanning nine counties in southern Texas bordering Mexico, said the pope's most recent comments "certainly reinforce my own commitment to speak up for (immigrants) and to redouble my own efforts."
Seitz, who also heads the migration committee of the U.S. bishops' conference, said the conference is discussing whether to issue a statement about the Trump administration's treatment of immigrants during its annual meeting, to be held in Baltimore from November 10-13.
"Without question, this issue will be a major, if not the major, topic that we undertake during the bishops' meeting," he said.
Leo was asked on Tuesday about migrants at the Broadview facility who have been refused the opportunity to receive holy Communion, an important religious obligation. Many of the migrants entering the United States come from Latin America, a predominantly Catholic region.
He said the detainees' spiritual rights need to be respected and cited scripture passages indicating Jesus will judge Christians after death on how they welcomed immigrants.
"I would certainly invite the authorities to allow pastoral workers to attend to the needs of those people," the pope said.
TRUMPS CRACKDOWN IN CHICAGO TAKES HEIGHTENED TURN
A delegation of clergy, including a Catholic bishop who is one of Cupich's deputies, tried to bring the inmates at Broadview holy Communion on November 1, the Catholic feast of All Saints, but was denied access to the facility.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin said that the ICE facility in Broadview was a field office that is used for processing and short-term detention and that it was not "standard operating procedure", due to security concerns, to have religious services there.
McLaughlin said religious groups were "more than welcome" to provide services at ICE's longer-term detention centers.
Seitz said his diocese had recently been granted permission to celebrate Mass inside an ICE detention facility in El Paso, which he took part in. He said it was an emotional experience, with some detainees crying during the service, and a Catholic delegation now plans to go every Sunday.
The detainees in Chicago are part of Trump's aggressive immigration crackdown in that city, where DHS says more than 3,000 people have been held.
A raid on a Spanish-language immersion daycare on the city's North Side on Wednesday, where a woman was dragged out of the building while screaming, marked a heightened turn in the crackdown, which has also caught up U.S. citizens and people with no criminal record.
"We stand with Pope Leo in affirming that how we welcome the stranger is a defining measure of the values of this country," the Leadership Conference of Women Religious, an umbrella group that represents Catholic nuns across the U.S., told Reuters.
"We urge authorities to cease violent action against migrants, ensure their access to care and safeguard their human rights while they are detained," the group said.
(Reporting by Joshua McElwee; additional reporting by Yesim Dikmen in Rome, Ted Hesson and Steve Holland in Washington; editing by Daniel Flynn)
