Some people seem to feel the Catholic Church’s love of immigrants comes from a selfish point of view.
This opinion came to light in an interview airing on September 10 on the CBS-TV program 60 Minutes. Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist for President Donald Trump and now executive chairman of Breitbart News, said on the program that the Catholic bishops of the United States have “an economic interest in illegal immigration” as “they need illegal aliens to fill the pews.”
I beg to disagree. The Catholic Church’s love of immigrants is certainly not based on an economic interest. It is true that many immigrants do contribute of their time, talent, and treasure to Catholic parishes. But many of them start out living in poverty, and it may take years for them to be able to give anything back to the Church as they get settled in their communities here.