Leo's new document, an apostolic exhortation defending the poor and marginalized, is based on an unfinished text started by Pope Francis. In it, he quotes Francis, calling on the faithful to "welcome, protect, promote and integrate" migrants. Leo takes aim at Christians who embrace "secular ideologies or political and economic approaches that lead to gross generalizations and mistaken conclusions." (He suggests they "go back and reread the Gospel.") And, deploying some of the same charged phrases favored by Francis, he pillories market capitalism, deriding "the dictatorship of an economy that kills" by enriching a small wealthy elite.
"Either we regain our moral and spiritual dignity," the document states, "or we fall into a cesspool."…
Leo "was very clear that what is happening to migrants in the United States right now is an injustice," said Dylan Corbett, executive director of the Texas-based Hope Border Institute, who attended the meeting. "He said the church cannot remain silent."…
