Texas Bishop Taking on Greg Abbott Gets Pope Francis' Protection

A Texas bishop who has not been shy about criticizing Texas Governor Greg Abbott's immigration views said in a new interview that the subject matter is being used for political gain and is going against the teachings of the Catholic Church and views espoused by Pope Francis.

Bishop Mark Seitz of the Diocese of El Paso, where he has been since 2013, previously chastised Texas officials' efforts at the U.S.-Mexico border—including the placing of razor wire amid wider efforts to arrest and detain illegal migrants without federal jurisdiction—as "transparently political" and part of a "broader, brutal, historical project in Texas to criminalize and police people who migrate."

The bishop was also critical of Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, who in February filed a lawsuit against the El Paso-based nongovernmental organization (NGO) Annunciation House for allegedly engaging in criminality when aiding migrants crossing the southern border. Seitz said at the time that the suit was part of "an escalating campaign of intimidation, fear and dehumanization in the State of Texas."

In new comments made to the National Catholic Reporter, Seitz expressed wariness regarding the upcoming presidential election due to the willingness of some candidates to demonize migrants for campaign and political gains.

"We have more people in a situation of migration more than ever before in history, and yet it's not beyond our ability to help if we would only decide that we ought to," he said. "I'm concerned about the election period very much....Frankly, in this secularizing age, even people who consider themselves 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."

Newsweek reached out to Seitz and Abbott via email for comment.

Seitz, the U.S. Bishops' Conference Migration Committee (USCCB) chair, was also asked about how Pope Francis has emboldened him and and his diocese with his very outward pro-immigration messaging that preceded the current debates taking place in the United States.

"The Vatican, and particularly of course Pope Francis, has been so important in this issue," the bishop said. "He's been able to zero in on this fundamental gospel issue of our time. How prophetic that he has identified this since day one of his papacy and has had the strength to be able to stand up against a lot of pushback in this world that has been so willing to deny the dignity and quality of people who have left everything they know."

The relationship between the pair goes back years, according to Seitz, including one visit in the El Paso region on the other side of the border.

"It's really been a tremendous support for my ministry," Seitz said. "I'm a bishop at the border. I deal with these issues every day as a matter of fundamental work of the church in caring for our poor who are among us. He's given me the cover, if you will, to be able to speak to these issues.

"There still might be a lot of people who end up being angry, but they better be ready to take on the Holy Father as well."