WASHINGTON, D.C. — Faith leaders and immigrant advocates have a new poster child to help push immigration reform through Congress: Pope Francis.
Ahead of the papal visit later this month, immigrants and interfaith leaders held a press conference this week, expressing hope that Francis’ congressional visit could lead “to the beginning of an honest debate of how to fix the broken immigration system.” They also suggested members of Congress should “open their minds and hearts to the Pope’s message.”
“We don’t know what the Holy Father [will say]… but he’s been a strong defender for persons on the move — immigrants, refugees, trafficking victims,” Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Archbishop Emeritus of Washington, D.C., said at Thursday’e event.
Francis has intensely focused on the plight of immigrants during his time as pontiff, including visiting the island of Lampedusa to commemorate North African migrants who died trying to get to Europe and calling on European parishes to take in refugee families. Francis also listened to stories from undocumented immigrants in a video conference hosted by ABC News last month.
“His purpose is not to change minds, but essentially, his hope is to change hearts,” McCarrick said. “If you can change hearts, you can effect long-lasting change. On immigration, he will likely remind us of our common humanity, our immigrant heritage, our proud tradition of welcoming the stranger and providing safe haven. This is what makes our nation great.”
Faith leaders at the press conference explained that changing the minds of congressional members must begin with changing the minds of their constituents.
Jim Wallis, president and founder of Sojourners, believes that presidential candidates, who tout anti-immigrant rhetoric to make life as miserable as possible for immigrants could have strong influence on congressional Republicans.
But as Wallis explained to ThinkProgress, it’s up to elected officials to decide whether to listen to “the hardcore minority white voters who were against civil rights for black people and voting rights and immigration now… It’s swelling their ranks because it’s talking about a very racial, fearful, defensive, angry politics, but they’re losing their own children, those people.”
A 2014 Pew Research poll backs up Wallis’ statement: Millennials are more likely to support immigration reform than the generations before them. And a 2013 Public Religion Research Institute poll found that across religions, a majority of Catholics, mainstream Protestants, Jews, and white Evangelicals favor an earned pathway to citizenship.
“On the pastoral side, congregations — as the Pope has even called Europeans to do — should be opening their ministries,” Reverend Jennifer Butler, CEO of the group Faith in Public Life, told ThinkProgress. “The urgency of this moment has been increased by what we’ve seen in Europe and it’s not unlike what we see on our own borders every day. Sometimes we can forget that because we see that so often.”
It remains to be seen whether faith can drive congressional leaders to act on fixing the immigration system. Previous efforts, including a 22-day fast led by immigrant advocates and faith leaders on the National Mall in 2014, drew the attention of the White House and congressional Democrats. But it got positive feedback reception from only a handful of congressional Republicans. The pope’s visit, on the other hand, “may make them uncomfortable,” Wallis hoped. “It’s getting the message in the heart of Congress.”
Still, with 69 Catholic Republicans and 68 Catholic Democrats in the House, including House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), faith leaders hope that the religious commonality with the pope can drive the moral narrative on immigration reform.
“I believe this movement is winning the hearts and minds of the American people,” Wallis said. “In the end, we’re going to win this, but the question is how much more time will we allow the suffering of the stranger and that for me is a gospel question.”