VATICAN (CNS): Pope Leo XIV condemned the abuse of vulnerable migrants, stating it is not a legitimate exercise of sovereignty but a grave crime committed or tolerated by governments.
“Ever more inhuman measures are being adopted—even celebrated politically—that treat these ‘undesirables’ as if they were garbage and not human beings,” he said without mentioning any specific country during an address to Jubilee of Popular Movements and the Fifth World Meeting of Popular Movements at the Vatican on October 23.
“States have the right and the duty to protect their borders, but this should be balanced by the moral obligation to provide refuge,” he said at the Pope Paul VI Audience Hall.
For Christians, the pope said, God is love, and he “creates us and calls us to live as brothers and sisters.”
Protecting the rights and dignity of immigrants was one of several “new” social ills Pope Leo addressed, including the US opioid crisis, online gambling, consumerism driven by social media, “conflict minerals,” and the neglect of the poor’s basic needs despite their access to new technologies.
Ever more inhuman measures are being adopted—even celebrated politically—that treat these ‘undesirables’ as if they were garbage and not human beings
Pope Leo
The gathering took place in Rome from October 21-24. The popular movements include those that organise informal workers who collect and recycle trash, gather people living in informal settlements on the outskirts of cities, rally citizens to promote environmental care, assist subsistence farmers, and rescue migrants at sea.
Pope Leo affirmed, echoing Pope Francis, that “housing, work and land are sacred rights, it is worthwhile to fight for them,” and voiced solidarity: “I am here, I am with you!”
He reiterated that he chose the name “Leo” in reference to Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 encyclical Rerum Novarum [Of New Things], which addressed the social and economic challenges of the Industrial Revolution and workers’ rights.
Pope Leo criticised society’s focus on “what’s new” for the privileged—such as “autonomous vehicles, high-end mobile phones, cryptocurrencies”—instead of the needs of the marginalised.
“From the peripheries, however, things appear differently,” he said.
He asked, “Is asking for housing, work and land, including food for the excluded, a ‘new thing’?” These needs, he said, deserve focus in Christian social thought today. He noted that Pope Leo XIII prioritised the plight of workers and the oppressed over industrial advancement.
Pope Leo criticised society’s focus on ‘what’s new’ for the privileged—such as ‘autonomous vehicles, high-end mobile phones, cryptocurrencies’—instead of the needs of the marginalised
“For the first time and with absolute clarity, a pope said that the daily struggle for survival and for social justice were of fundamental importance for the Church,” he noted.
Pope Leo sought to look at the “new things” happening on “the periphery,” that is, “the problems that strike the excluded” and marginalised of today.
The pope said that, notably, in today’s world, many old injustices continue.
He called for progress to be “managed through an ethic of responsibility…putting the human person and their integral development at the centre,” especially by including the marginalised in efforts to counter social injustices.
“We should ensure that the ‘what’s new’ be managed in an appropriate way,” he said. “The question should not remain only in the hands of the political, scientific or academic elites, but rather should involve all of us.”
The pope stated that reversing the exclusion of millions is “a central point in the debate on the ‘new things.’”
[progress should be] managed through an ethic of responsibility…putting the human person and their integral development at the centre Pope Leo
He said, “Exclusion is the new face of social injustice.”
He also noted the surprising paradox that lack of basic needs coexists with widespread access to new technologies.
“Cell phones, social networks and even artificial intelligence are in the pockets of millions…including the poor,” he said, but warned against neglecting fundamental needs.
He blamed “bad management” for increasing inequality under the guise of progress: “When promoting human dignity is not the focus, the system fails also in justice.”
He stressed that issues like climate change disproportionately harm the poor.
The pope also cast his gaze on “the new thing” of the pharmaceutical industry, noting that while advances in medicine represent “great progress for some, a cult of physical well-being is being promoted, almost an idolatry of the body.”
The pope noted that new technologies depend on minerals like coltan and lithium, often extracted from poor countries, disproportionately affecting the disadvantaged
He warned that reducing “the mystery of pain” to something inhuman leads to dependence on pain medications, which benefits pharmaceutical companies.
“This also leads to dependence on opioids, as has been devastating, particularly in the United States. For example, fentanyl, the drug of death, is the second most common cause of death among the poor in that country,” he said.
Pope Leo said the spread of lethal synthetic drugs is not just a trafficking crime but relates to pharmaceutical production and profit “lacking a global ethic.”
He warned that “unbridled consumerism” and unrealistic economic ideals, especially via social media, harm the marginalised. He cited digital gambling platforms, “designed to create compulsive dependence,” as another emerging problem.
The Church must be with you: a poor church for the poor, a church that reaches out, a church that runs risks, a church that is courageous, prophetic and joyful!
Pope Leo
The pope noted that new technologies depend on minerals like coltan and lithium, often extracted from poor countries, disproportionately affecting the disadvantaged. The extraction of these minerals “depends on paramilitary violence, child labour and the displacement of populations,” he said.
He warned that competition for lithium, the “white gold,” threatens poor nations’ stability, with some contractors and politicians even boasting of promoting coups.
“With the abuse of vulnerable migrants, we are witnessing…grave crimes committed or tolerated by the state,” the pope said, highlighting security concerns.
Pope Leo praised popular movements, civil society, and the Church for addressing “new forms of dehumanisation” and testifying that “whoever is in need is our neighbour.” He called them “champions of humanity, witnesses to justice, poets of solidarity.”
He stressed that popular movements’ services must be animated by love: “We are not serving an ideology but truly living the gospel.”
“The Church must be with you: a poor church for the poor, a church that reaches out, a church that runs risks, a church that is courageous, prophetic and joyful!” the pope said.
