Pope Brings Hope for Latinos

Politico

By Seung Min Kim

September 23, 2015

Pope Brings Hope for Latinos

The arrival of Pope Francis in Washington this week marks a momentous — and deeply personal — occasion for Latino Catholics, who have seen the influence of the first Latino pope extend far beyond members of the church.

“In general, he’s moving the public in such a way that he’ll get his way on a number of issues,” said Rep. Jose Serrano (D-N.Y.), who is Catholic.

For Latino lawmakers, however, Francis’ words resonate the most on the issue of immigration. And after losing their best shot at immigration reform in a generation, advocates are latching onto Francis’s historic visit to jolt the rhetoric and debate over immigrants that has swerved sharply to the right.

Born in Buenos Aires, Francis is the first leader of the Catholic Church to hail from Latin America and has focused much of his papacy on liberalizing immigration policies and showing compassion for migrants. Religious leaders expect Francis to promote that message during his speech to Congress on Thursday -- a theme advocates hope will be a subtle rebuke to the GOP, whose presidential primary has been characterized by a hardline tone and position toward immigration.

“This is the quintessential heavenly pushback to Donald Trump’s foolish statements,” said the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference. “This is God’s response to nativism and xenophobia: A Latino pope at the White House. Praise the Lord.”

Francis began his tour of Washington on Tuesday, with a welcome by President Barack Obama at Joint Base Andrews and a formal ceremony at the White House commemorating his visit on Wednesday. He will address a joint meeting of Congress on Thursday and he’s expected to deliver a message that will challenge lawmakers across the political spectrum.

Though Francis could certainly make Democrats uncomfortable by reiterating the views of the Catholic Church on abortion and contraception, he could just as easily push Republicans with progressive stances on not just immigration, but climate change and economic inequality.

Francis has also backed the nuclear accord with Iran that GOP lawmakers have uniformly opposed, and helped broker a landmark deal last December that began relaxing relations between the United States and Cuba after nearly five decades.

“He is an important spiritual leader in the world, calling for greater compassion for those who are suffering,” Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who is running for the GOP presidential nomination, said Tuesday. “That is a message that everyone should heed.”

When asked about the pope’s stances on climate change and immigration, Cruz declined to comment and ducked into an elevator.

But the pope’s presence and his speech will also strike a personal note for many lawmakers, particularly the Latino Catholics such as Rep. Norma Torres (D-Calif.).

The freshman lawmaker said she hadn’t attended mass in years, repelled by the sexual-abuse scandal that rocked the Catholic Church. But since the pontiff assumed his position as the head of the church, his message of redemption and forgiveness – as well as provocative positions on progressive issues – had drawn Torres back to the church pews.

“I had my own crisis with the Catholic Church. It wasn’t until I began to hear Pope Francis address the humanitarian issues around the world that I began to pay back attention,” Torres said in an interview Tuesday. “The fact that Pope Francis has been more moderate and accepting from all walks of life makes me feel that as a woman, I have a place there in church.”

The Congressional Hispanic Caucus began making preparations for the pope’s visit as early as last August, when it wrote to the Vatican praising Francis for his message urging compassion for immigrants, particularly unaccompanied children, from Central America who were arriving in record numbers last year.

The Aug. 21, 2014 letter from the caucus also urged Francis to continue drawing attention to poverty and requested a meeting with the pope during his U.S. visit, “wherever your journey may take you.”

“With such a broad worldwide congregation, and a clear and deeply felt interest in the affairs of all humankind, we would encourage as you plan your trip to the United States, that you continue your leadership and visit some of our communities most in need,” the Latino lawmakers wrote.

“He is the most modern day pope I've seen in my lifetime,” said current Congressional Hispanic Caucus Chairwoman Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-Calif.), who is Catholic. “It's exciting and that's why there has been a real upsurge in Catholicism and attendance."

In high anticipation for his visit, immigration advocates have been making their own preparations.

On his first foreign trip as pope – to Rio de Janeiro for World Youth Day in July 2013 – Francis ditched the traditional glass-enclosed, bullet-proof popemobile for an open-top jeep that allowed him to mingle with the crowd of millions. “This is the pope’s choice,” said Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi. “He feels good about being in close communication with the environs around him, and this car lets him get on and off.” Above, Pope Francis waves and blesses the son of a policeman as he arrives to celebrate Mass on Copacabana Beach.

It wasn’t long after the white smoke cleared and Argentine Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio was named the 266th pontiff, that it became apparent: Pope Francis, as he would call himself, was not going to be a typical pontiff. He appeared shy as he waved to the crowd below in St. Peter’s Square on that rainy day in March 2013, but in the days, weeks and months to come, he would show himself to be candid, funny and, above all else, warm. As Francis visits the United States for the first time, POLITICO takes a look at some of the key moments in his papacy.

On Wednesday, a coalition of faith leaders – including Rodriguez, who’ll attend the White House welcoming ceremony that day – will hold a forum to prod Congress on immigration reform, an issue that had long disappeared from the GOP-led Capitol’s legislative radar.

Lawmakers are already being lobbied by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which delivered packets to congressional offices Monday outlining the Catholic Church’s stances on immigration reform and what Francis has said on the topic.

“It’s unclear how specific he’ll get on these issues but at the end of the day, it’ll be crystal clear where he stands and where the church stands on migration and the inherent dignity of human beings,” said Kevin Appleby, the director of migration policy for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops. “It won’t be hard to connect the dots.”

He added: “The Church doesn’t plan these trips based on domestic politics but in a lot of ways, he’s coming at a good time because of the narrative right now.”

Since Sept. 15, more than 150 female activists from a broad coalition of immigration advocacy groups have been walking from York County, Pennsylvania—where one federal immigration detention center is located—to Washington, D.C. in a long trek meant to bring attention to the plight of immigrants.

“The Pope has been such an inspirational figure for migration rights across the world,” said Monique Nguyen, one of the female walkers who is the executive director of MataHari, an advocacy group in Boston for minority and immigrant women. “We are just doing our part.”

Lawmakers may also get a message from Francis on the ongoing migrant crisis in Europe, where millions of Syrian refugees have fled the war-torn Middle East country. Just days before Francis’s visit, the Obama administration announced that the United States will begin taking in more refugees from abroad, going from 70,000 now to 85,000 in 2016 and as high as 100,000 in 2017.

The administration’s proposal has already drawn scrutiny from Republicans who have raised concerns that terrorist groups will exploit the refugee crisis to enter the United States. But Democrats hope the Pope will exert pressure on Congress to deal with the issue.

“I hope he puts the magnitude of the challenge on the table and suggest that we will do more,” said Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.), who is Catholic. “Maybe that can break the ice and enable Congress to talk about strategy.”

For more information, go to:  www.beverlyhillsimmigrationlaw.com