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U.S. Catholic Bishops Condemn Mass Deportations in Rare Statement Citing 'Climate of Fear'

The conference approved the text 216–5 without naming President Trump, marking its first such declaration in 12 years.

Overview

  • The statement from the annual meeting in Baltimore rejects the 'indiscriminate mass deportation of persons' and calls for an end to dehumanizing rhetoric and violence.
  • Bishops describe troubling detention-center conditions and report parishioners living in fear, including parents worried about being arrested on the way to school and families already separated.
  • The measure passed with 216 votes in favor, five against and three abstentions, underscoring an uncommon level of institutional consensus.
  • Pope Leo XIV, the first U.S. pope, has recently criticized the U.S. approach to migrants, reinforcing the Church’s moral concerns on migration.
  • Many senior Republicans are Catholics, including Vice President JD Vance, and the bishops this week elected Archbishop Paul Coakley as USCCB president, who voiced support for the text.