Vatican official: People ‘terrorized’ by US crackdown on illegal immigration

A prominent Vatican cardinal said on Monday that people are being “terrorized” by the U.S. government’s “crackdown” on immigration and freeze of Catholic-run aid programs.

Cardinal Michael Czerny, prefect of the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development, told the Associated Press in an interview published Feb. 10 that U.S. measures affecting both migration policy and international aid programs are causing serious harm to vulnerable populations.

“A crackdown is a terrible way to administer affairs and much less to administer justice,” the Czech-born Canadian Jesuit said. “I’m very sorry that many people are being hurt and indeed terrorized by the measures.”

The cardinal’s comments coincided with a sharp rebuke from Caritas Internationalis, which on Monday strongly condemned what it called “the reckless decision by the U.S. administration to abruptly close USAID funded programs and offices worldwide.”

Caritas warned: “Stopping USAID will jeopardize essential services for hundreds of millions of people, undermine decades of progress in humanitarian and development assistance, destabilize regions that rely on this critical support, and condemn millions to dehumanizing poverty or even death.”

Catholic Relief Services — the U.S. Catholic Church’s primary aid agency and one of USAID’s recipients — has already raised concerns about the impact.

Czerny noted that smaller Catholic programs are also affected.

The Vatican official emphasized Pope Francis’ teaching that caring for migrants and vulnerable people is a fundamental Christian duty.

“What the Church teaches is very well summed up by Pope Francis, who says that our obligation, not only as Christians but as human beings, is to welcome people, to protect them, to promote them, and to integrate them,” Czerny said.

The Jesuit cardinal is the latest of several prelates to weigh in on U.S. immigration policy changes, which numerous Catholic leaders, including Pope Francis, have criticized as unjust.

On Feb. 7, Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City, Kansas, noted that “the Church does not have the authority or the responsibility to determine the legal status of those living in the United States” but does have “an obligation to care for every person with respect and love, no matter their citizenship status.”

At the same time, the Kansas archbishop offered a full-throated endorsement of prioritizing public safety threats in immigration enforcement.