Most of Pope Leo’s appointments for Catholic bishops in the US have called for better treatment of immigrants in the country, in a trend that may shape how the national Church responds to the Trump administration’s divisive anti-immigration policies.
At least ten of the 13 selections made to date by Leo, including the new Archbishop of New York, announced on Thursday to replace the leading conservative Cardinal Timothy Dolan, have spoken publicly on the issue.
In diverse statements, some have called the Trump policies cruel; others have urged the administration to use due process before deporting immigrants.
One of Leo’s closest US advisers told Reuters the Pope’s appointments show that treatment of immigrants is now a firm part of the Church’s position that life is sacred from conception until death, one of the 1.4-billion-member denomination’s strongest teachings.
“It signals a maturing of our understanding of what it means to be pro-life,” said Chicago Cardinal Blase Cupich, who is part of a Vatican office that advises Leo on which Catholic priests to appoint as bishops.
The US bishops’ pro-life agenda focused for decades on ending legal abortion in the country, with their national conference supporting an annual march in Washington, DC and lobbying to end the now overturned 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling.
Leo appeared to broaden the pro-life umbrella in September, when he questioned whether US President Donald Trump’s policies were in line with the Church’s teachings, drawing a heated backlash from some prominent conservative Catholics.
“Someone who says I am against abortion but I am in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life,” the Pope said in response to journalists’ questions outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, in Italy.
In his first seven months as Pope, Leo has appointed new Catholic bishops in cities across the US, from San Diego to Austin to Pittsburgh.
Bishop Ronald Hicks, 58, who Leo named on Thursday to replace Dolan in New York in a leadership shake-up, gave his first remarks in Spanish that day at a Press conference about his appointment before switching to English.
Hicks, who will lead 2.8 million Catholics in New York, is a former missionary in El Salvador. He reiterated an earlier endorsement of a November statement by the US bishops’ conference, which decried Trump’s immigration crackdown.
Since Catholic bishops normally only retire for health or age reasons, and can serve until age 80, many of the new bishops appointed by Leo could be expected to stay in their roles for decades.
“Certainly the most lasting legacy of any Pope, is the episcopal appointments he makes,” said Natalia Imperatori-Lee, a US Church expert and professor at Fordham University. “Every appointment is important, and every one means something.”
Trump, who once called the late Pope Francis ‘disrespectful’ for criticising the president’s immigration policies, has not responded directly to Leo’s criticisms.
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