Pope calls anti-migrant attitudes at US border 'madness'

(ANSA-AFP) - WASHINGTON, MAY 20 - Pope Francis made a foray into the US election season with a rare television interview Sunday, calling harsh anti-migrant attitudes "madness" and criticizing right-wing US Catholic figures for overly conservative stances against his social teachings. Speaking in his native Spanish through a translator for more than an hour, Francis told CBS News program "60 Minutes" that the closing by the state of Texas of a Catholic charity offering humanitarian assistance was absurd. "That is madness. Sheer madness. To close the border and leave them there, that is madness. The migrant has to be received," the pope said. "Thereafter you see how you are going to deal with him. Maybe you have to send him back, I don't know, but each case ought to be considered humanely," Francis said. Record numbers of migrants have been seeking to enter the United States, largely from Central America and Venezuela, as they flee poverty, violence and disasters exacerbated by climate change. The matter has emerged as a top political issue in the November US election, with President Joe Biden's Republican challenger, former president Donald Trump, pushing the topic front and center. "The globalization of indifference" on migrants, Francis said, "is a very ugly disease." (ANSA-AFP).