Pope Leo XIV: “Protecting borders must be balanced with the moral obligation to provide shelter”

Pope Leo

“Increasingly inhuman measures, even politically celebrated, are being adopted to treat these ‘undesirables’ as if they were waste and not human beings,” he stated before nearly 130 delegates of the Popular Movements, whom he received at the Vatican.

This is the first time that Leo

The Pope asserted that, when vulnerable migrants are abused, “national sovereignty is not being exercised legitimately, but serious crimes are being committed or tolerated by the State.”

Likewise, Leo XIV denounced the serious crisis of “opioid addiction” that affects the United States, with a special impact among the poorest people.

Fentanyl, drug of death that kills the poor

The Holy Father placed special emphasis on fentanyl, which he described as “the drug of death” and regretted that it is the “second cause of death among the poor people of that country.”

During his speech, the American Pontiff warned of the proliferation of new “synthetic drugs,” increasingly lethal, which “is not only a crime committed by drug traffickers, but a reality related to the production of medicines and their profits, which lack global ethics.”

On the other hand, the Pope referred to the work of the Popular Movements that have celebrated their V International Meeting from October 21 to 24, in addition to a jubilee pilgrimage framed in the Holy Year on October 25 and 26.

“Echoing Francis’ requests, today I reaffirm: land, shelter and work are sacred rights worth fighting for,” León continued and commented that “the banner that you raise is so current that it deserves a complete chapter in Christian social thought on the excluded in the contemporary world.”

The Pontiff recalled that one of the reasons why he chose the name Leo XIV It is because of the encyclical “Rerum Novarum”, written by Leo XIII during the Industrial Revolution. For the first time, and with absolute clarity, Leo XIV stressed, a Pope affirmed that daily struggles for survival and social justice “were of fundamental importance for the Church.”

The Pontiff assured that exclusion “has become the new face of social injustice.” “The gap between a small minority, 1% of the population, and the vast majority has widened dramatically,” he denounced.

Poor and marginalized at the center of the Church’s action

In one of the most emotional moments of the speech, the Pope stressed the importance of placing the poor and marginalized at the center of social action and the Church. “I want you to hear me, to hear me say: ‘I am with you! I am with you!'” said the Pontiff, reaffirming his closeness to those who live on the social peripheries.

The Pope questioned the dominant vision of progress, which from the centers of power usually considers things such as autonomous vehicles, the latest trend clothing or cryptocurrencies as “novelties.”

“From the center there is no great awareness of the problems that affect the excluded,” warned Leo XIV. For the Pontiff, popular movements not only protest, but also seek “concrete solutions”: they create cooperatives, feed the hungry, care for children, help the shipwrecked and build homes. “We are not creating an ideology, but really living the Gospel,” he assured.

On the other hand, Pope Leo stressed that social action must be inspired by love: “The commandment of love is at the heart of the Gospel, and Jesus told us that in the face and wounds of the poor his own face is hidden.” In this sense, he praised the work of the Popular Movements that “fill the void left by structural indifference” with “the great miracle of solidarity, based on caring for others and reconciliation.”

“Inequity is the root of social evils”

The Pontiff also warned about the dangers of poorly managed globalization: “If the problems of the poor are not radically resolved, attacking the structural causes of inequality, the world’s problems will not be resolved. Inequity is the root of social evils.”

Likewise, he insisted that comprehensive human development must be placed “above economic profit and financial speculation.”

Leo XIV also reflected on the challenges of technological and social progress, warning that access to mobile phones, social networks and even artificial intelligence cannot replace the satisfaction of basic needs.

“Although more and more people have access to the Internet, fundamental needs remain unmet. We must ensure that, as we meet more sophisticated needs, we do not neglect essential ones,” he said.

The Pontiff warned that this “systemic arbitrariness” causes millions of people to be deprived of what is necessary while they are immersed in “the accessory.”

In this context, the Pontiff in turn pointed out another problem: the spread of addiction to digital gaming. “The platforms are designed to create a compulsive addiction and generate habits that create dependency,” he denounced.

Likewise, he pointed out that the development of new information and telecommunications technologies depends on minerals that are often found in the subsoil of poor countries.

“Without coltan from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, for example, many of the technological devices we use today would not exist.” However, the Pope denounced, their extraction “depends on paramilitary violence, child labor and the displacement of populations.”

Finally, Leo XIV also pointed out that the climate crisis is one of the most obvious examples of how the most vulnerable suffer the consequences of poorly managed progress.

“We see it in every extreme weather event – floods, droughts, tsunamis or earthquakes -: it is always the poorest who suffer the most. They lose what little they have when water destroys their homes and are often forced to abandon them without being offered a viable alternative to resume their lives,” he said.