Amna Nawaz:
Pope Leo spoke out today about the Trump administration’s approach to mass deportation and the treatment of some immigrants. The pope was asked about Catholic bishops who have been critical of those policies.
In a so-called special pastoral message, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops decried the — quote — “indiscriminate deportation campaign” and said they are — quote — “praying for an end to the dehumanizing rhetoric and violence.”
The pope offered his support for that message this evening.
Pope Leo XIV:
I appreciate very much what the bishops have said. I think it’s a very important statement. I would invite especially all Catholics, but people of good will, to listen carefully to what they said. I think we have to look for ways of treating people humanely, treating people with the dignity that they have.
If people are in the United States illegally, there are ways to treat that. There are courts. There’s a system of justice.
Amna Nawaz:
Before the pope’s remarks, I spoke with one of the bishops behind that immigration message. That’s Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, who met with the pope this fall.
Bishop Seitz, welcome to the “News Hour.” Thanks for joining us.
Rev. Mark Seitz:
It’s great to be with you, Amna.
Amna Nawaz:
So, as we noted there, this kind of message is very rare. What did you and other bishops see that said to you it’s necessary to deliver this message and right now?
Rev. Mark Seitz:
Well, I think probably there were a lot of people that would have liked to have heard from us as a body even sooner.
But it’s a complicated matter with 300-plus bishops in the United States to come together around a statement. Even though there is a high deal of unanimity in terms of the issue itself, to come together on the words is challenging and we undertook that process at our last meeting.
Amna Nawaz:
Now, I should note that President Trump is not mentioned by name anywhere in the statement, but this is in response to his policies and his approach.
And his border czar, Tom Homan, responded to your message by saying the Catholic Church is wrong. What’s your response to that?
Rev. Mark Seitz:
Yes. Well, he has a right to his opinion, but he needs to realize he’s disagreeing with the Catholic Church.
Our role in the church is that we are to speak according to the Gospel and the teachings of the church. And certainly when you find this degree of unanimity between the Holy Father and the entire body of bishops of the United States, there ought to be something that causes people to look up and say, wow, this must have something to do with church teaching.
Amna Nawaz:
You also say in the statement, you’re grateful for the chance to dialogue with public and elected officials. Have you had that chance? Are you or any of your colleagues speaking to the White House or to DHS? And what is it specifically you would like to see change?
Rev. Mark Seitz:
Well, we’re constantly seeking to be in communication with the government. And we see ourselves as having a role of conscience formation, you might say, just speaking the basic principles that we believe that we have gotten from the Gospel and through the history of the church’s reflection on these issues.
We believe we have something to offer to the polity, to the state. And we do that wherever we are. So we have been in contact, but we haven’t had the level of contact to this point that we would like, that we have seen in the past with the leadership of our country.
Amna Nawaz:
If you had a chance to speak directly with someone in the White House, what would you say?
Rev. Mark Seitz:
Well, I’d certainly want to have a conversation with them. But we would express our great concern about some of the rhetoric that’s been using, characterizing whole large groups of people, and giving the impression that they’re criminals, that they’re rapists and all of these kinds of things that have come along.
We would also want to remind them that this country has signed on to a law that is our own in this country, but also according to international law, that says that we will accept people into this country who are fleeing for their lives. And the law establishes a way to do that that recognizes the urgency of that acceptance in some cases.
So we would remind them about that. We would ask that they be very careful when they consider actions that could result in the division of families and the separation of families or sending people, individuals or families into situations that are really threatening to their very life in some of the countries that we’re considering sending people to.
Amna Nawaz:
Bishop, I have to ask you.
At the same Baltimore conference where you approve this immigration message, I know bishops also agreed on a statement and a decision around the treatment of transgender people by the church, made the decision to officially bar Catholic hospitals from providing gender-affirming care for transgender people.
Can you explain why, what’s behind that decision?
Rev. Mark Seitz:
Well, first of all, let me say that we believe that we should love and care for every human being, and that is the goal of the church.
But, sometimes, actions that a person might request might not be in their best interest, from our understanding of the human person, according to what we have received from Scripture, from the teaching of the church. And so we couldn’t go along with doing something that we believe would be harmful to a person and in fact would not — would harm them for life in many cases.
Amna Nawaz:
I should note that the gender-affirming care is backed by medical professionals and by years of study.
But I will also note we heard from other faith leaders this week saying — from Episcopalian faith, from Presbyterians, Reform Jews saying they feel their faiths compel them to treat transgender, intersex and nonbinary people with respect, love and equal rights. They’re reading from the same holy text here, right, so why the divide?
Rev. Mark Seitz:
Well, there’s always been differences based on the interpretation of the Scriptures, and I don’t think that’s going to end right away, although we would love to see it happen.
But we read it differently than they do. And, again, we have tremendous respect and care for people who are going through this struggle. We want to support them, walk with them, but we wouldn’t want to do anything that we would believe would hurt them.
Amna Nawaz:
Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas, we thank you so much for your time, for making the time to speak with us. Appreciate it.
Rev. Mark Seitz:
You’re welcome. God bless you and your listeners.
