A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
More than 200 Catholic bishops from across the United States are gathered in Baltimore this week for their annual conference. It's their first large gathering since the election of Pope Leo XIV. The Chicago-born pope has called for deep reflection about the detention of migrants in the U.S. The Catholic bishops elected new leaders of their conference, and immigration led the discussions. Here's Aleja Hertzler-McCain of Religion News Service.
ALEJA HERTZLER-MCCAIN, BYLINE: On Monday, the U.S. Catholic bishops elected Archbishop Paul Coakley to be the conference's president for the next three years. Coakley is the adviser to an influential group of conservative Catholics whose leader has praised the Trump administration. Runner-up Bishop Daniel Flores of Brownsville, Texas, was elected vice president. Immigration was top of mind for many bishops, one of whom described the situation as a crisis. Bishops said that while they support border security, many innocent people are suffering. Here's Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Texas.
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MARK SEITZ: Our immigrant brothers and sisters, from those who are undocumented to those who are naturalized citizens, are living in a deep state of fear.
HERTZLER-MCCAIN: But bishops also said they face a difficult political environment. Archbishop Timothy Broglio said...
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TIMOTHY BROGLIO: I have also learned and mentioned it to Pope Leo last month that some of our faithful listen more readily to soundbites, the sirens of political discourse or whatever confirms their conclusions and partisan leanings than they are to hearing their pastors and us.
HERTZLER-MCCAIN: The bishops' meeting concludes Thursday.
For NPR News, I'm Aleja Hertzler-McCain.
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