Ep. 15 - A border bishop's 'grave concern'

In this episode of "The Vatican Briefing," a leading Catholic bishop on the U.S.-Mexico border expresses "grave concern" that the 2024 presidential race could lead to further demonization of migrants seeking to enter the country. "I'm concerned about the election period very much," El Paso Bishop Mark Seitz tells expert journalists Joshua J. McElwee and Christopher White. "It seems that politicians have latched on to immigration as a way to mobilize their bases." Seitz, who has served in El Paso since 2013 and is currently the chairman of the U.S. bishops' migration committee, also says that some Christians "are more formed, it seems, in their thoughts, in their behaviors, by the political sort of thinking than by church teaching." "They want to make their Christianity fit their political outlook rather than the other way around, and that concerns me," says the bishop. Also in this episode, McElwee and White have a conversation about the Vatican's ongoing process for the Synod of Bishops and the recent announcement of Pope Francis' plans to travel in September to Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, East Timor and Singapore. This podcast and NCR's Future Media Initiative are made possible in part by the generosity of Bill and Jean Buchanan. Please support this podcast by joining NCR Forward, National Catholic Reporter's membership program. Relevant links: Rhina Guidos' coverage of Seitz's comments during an April conference on Catholic responses to migration: Both Republicans and Democrats spread anti-immigrant views, says Bishop Seitz Brian Fraga's reporting on Seitz's concerns about "militarization" at the U.S.-Mexico border: Texas is escalating efforts to criminalize migrants, says Bishop Seitz Christopher White's coverage of theologian Anna Rowlands lecture at Cambridge University: Synod adviser: Pope Francis more interested in big discussions than specific issues Christopher White's reporting on the Vatican's announcement of Pope Francis' travel plans: Pope Francis to make ambitious September trip to Asia Pacific, Vatican says Christopher White's coverage of the Vatican's new document on human dignity: Vatican condemns surrogacy, gender-affirming surgery, gender theory in new doctrinal note