Pope Francis says Trump’s immigration attacks will be ‘shameful’ Reuters

Written by Joshua McElwee

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) – Pope Francis on Sunday criticized President-elect Donald Trump’s reported plan to step up immigration enforcement across the US in the days after his inauguration.

In an Italian televised interview, the pope said it would be “shameful” if Trump went ahead with the plan, in unusually strong language for the leader of the world Catholic Church.

“It would make the migrants, who have nothing, pay an unpaid debt,” said the pope. “It doesn’t work. You don’t solve problems this way.”

The pope’s comments were made during a video link from his Vatican residence with the “Che Tempo Che Fa” program on Italy’s Channel 9.

Francis, the leader of the 1.4 billion member church, is usually cautious about getting serious about political issues.

The pope has made welcoming immigrants a key theme of his nearly 12-year papacy, and has criticized Trump’s anti-immigrant rhetoric. During the 2016 election, he said Trump was “not a Christian” in his opinion.

Incoming Trump administration officials said on Saturday that the president-elect is reconsidering plans for immigration attacks in Chicago next week, following reports of plans.

Earlier on Sunday, the Catholic archbishop of Chicago, Cardinal Blase Cupich, also condemned the planned attacks. “This would be an insult to the dignity of all people and society,” the cardinal said in a statement.