Crdinal Robert McElroy decried the White House crackdown on undocumented immigrants as a “war of fear and terror,” speaking at a prayer service on Sunday just days after federal cuts forced the U.S. bishops’ conference to lay off 50 employees in its migrant resettlement office.
Only weeks away from beginning his papal assignment in Washington, D.C., McElroy used some of the strongest language to date from a U.S. prelate to decry Trump administration moves on immigration.
“We can do nothing other than come together and pray and proclaim our belief that the rights of every man and woman and child and family are in violence in our midst,” McElroy said at an overflow crowd of 1,200 at a prayer service at St. Joseph’s Cathedral in downtown San Diego on Feb. 9.
“We must speak up and proclaim that this unfolding misery and suffering and, yes, war of fear and terror cannot be tolerated in our midst,” McElroy said. “We must speak up and say: ‘Go no farther’ because the safety … humanity of our brothers and sisters, who are being targeted, are too precious in our eyes and in God’s eyes.”
The prayer service marks one of the cardinal’s last major public appearances in San Diego before he moves across the continent to take charge of the Archdiocese of Washington. The comments also come as the U.S. Catholic church is reeling from major cuts to Catholic Charities USA and the Catholic Relief Services.
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