The Pope criticizes Trump's deportation of immigrants, calling it a violation of dignity

Pope Francis on Tuesday veteranly criticising President Trump's massive deportation policy, urging Catholics to reject anti-immigrant narratives with an unusually direct attack on the American administration.

In an open letter to the American bishop, Francis said deporting people who often come from difficult circumstances violated “the dignity of many men and all of their families.”

The Pope wrote that “he was closely following the major crisis taking place in the United States with the launch of a massive deportation program,” and that policies built on coercion “will start badly and end badly.” He added.

Francis has long been an advocate for immigration, denounced their light letter as a pillar of his papal assembly. He called the issue “a shipwreck of civilization” and spoke repeatedly about his consideration of unwelcome non-Christian immigration policies around the world.

Pope Francis criticized Trump's anti-immigration plans when he was Trump's presidential candidate, but the letter was one of the first public and explicit criticisms to the US president since the election. did. Experts said it amounts to a sudden escalation of the temperament of the Vatican-American administration's relationship.

“It raises the heat of conflict,” said Massimo Fagiori, professor of theology at Villanova University.

Experts said, by writing an open letter, the Pope was also addressing members of the new American administration indirectly.

Francis seemed to be giving Mr. Vance a rift. Vance recently spoke about “Old Amoris.” This is a medieval Catholic theological concept that establishes a hierarchy of obligations that prioritize immediate obligations to families and communities over distant needs.

The Pope wrote, “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interest that extends to other people and groups.” “The true Ordo Amoris you have to get promoted,” he wrote.

Experts said the Pope's letter was also addressed to bishops and Catholics who adopted a benevolent attitude towards President Trump.

“He wants to avoid the church being divided into a Pope's and a Trump's church,” said Alberto Meloni, church historian and director of the John XXIII Religious Science Foundation in Bologna.

Pope Francis spoke previously about Trump's anti-immigration policies.

In 2016, he said that Trump, the then presidential candidate, had been “Christ” due to his campaign promise to expel more migrants and build walls along the Mexican border. It's not a teaching.”

Last year, Pope Francis said both presidential candidates were “opposed to life.” Kamala Harris is President Trump, who supports abortion rights and closes the door to immigration. He urged voters to choose “two less evil.”

However, during President Trump's first term, Francis directed general criticism of the wall construction, but generally refrained from direct attacks on the administration.

This time, Francis was not embarrassed to criticize President Trump's policies more directly. On an Italian television show on the eve of his inauguration, he said Trump's deportation plan would “be a dishonorable if it were true.”

During Trump's first term, “The Vatican thought Trump was a historic mistake that would be corrected,” Fagiori said. “Now they know it's a new era.”

There were no immediate comments from the White House.

In a letter that was not announced, Francis urged Catholics to consider human values ​​rather than laws and regulations.

“Consider the legitimacy of norms and public policy in light of the dignity of a person and their fundamental rights,” he wrote. “It's not the other way around.”

He reminded Catholics that Jesus and his family were immigrants to Egypt and recommended “all faithful people of the Catholic Church.”

Other Christian leaders have also criticised President Trump.

Last month, during the first worship service at Washington National Cathedral, Bishop Marian Edgar Budde, leader of the Parish of Washington, asked President Trump to mercy. Undocumented immigrants, LGBTQ children, and others.

The next day, Trump called for an apology from the true social media platforms “so-called bishops” and “radical left-handed hate of Trump.”