D.C. Cardinal: Mass Deportation of Illegals ‘Incompatible with Catholic Doctrine’

The newly appointed Catholic archbishop of Washington, DC, said Monday that President Trump’s plans for deporting illegal immigrants is “incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”

Cardinal Robert McElroy, recognized as one of the most progressive bishops in the U.S. episcopacy and a vocal Trump critic, noted in a press conference that the Catholic Church teaches that “a country has the right to control its borders” and that “our nation’s desire to do that is a legitimate effort.”

“At the same time,” he continued, “we are called always to have a sense of the dignity of every human person. And thus, plans which have been talked about at some levels of having a wider indiscriminate massive deportation across the country would be something that would be incompatible with Catholic doctrine.”

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Pope Francis’s decision to move a noted liberal bishop to the nation’s capital surprised even progressive observers, such as Massimo Faggioli, who teaches at Villanova University.

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But Patricia McGuire, president of Trinity Washington University, said she believes McElroy is “the right bishop at the right time for Washington, D.C.”

McElroy’s words on immigration enforcement signal that the new archbishop will be “a very strong voice to counter the horrors that the Trump administration says it is planning to do,” McGuire said.

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