Pope Benedict XVI said, "everything possible to fight ... all forms of violence so that immigrants may lead dignified lives."
So you -- and Tancredo -- don't think that immigrants should be protected from violence and allowed to live "dignified lives"? If you don't, you are both wrong.
Of course I object to real violence. That’s a given.
You are clearly missing the main points of Tancredo’s objection to the Pope’s comments.
To start, let us consider the second part of the Pope’s statement, rather than focusing on the first: “so that immigrants may lead dignified lives.” The Pope knows that illegal immigration is a hot button issue in the US. But he did not delineate between legal and illegal immigration in his comments.
Now on to the first part: “all forms of violence.” The inference can be made that, in the Pope’s view, any action such as denial of benefits, prosecution, or deportation, amounts to a form of violence. I think that it could very easily be interpreted in this way [see below for more evidence as to why], and I believe that this is the way Tancredo interpreted it.
So now, the statement in its entirety: “The US must do everything possible to fight all forms of violence so that immigrants may lead dignified lives.” Notice that this protection from violence extends only to immigrants. The Pope did not say that the US must do everything in its power to protect ALL of its CITIZENS from violence. Nope, just the immigrants.
Why did the Pope state it in this manner? Because he was directly addressing the United States’ immigration policy, that’s why. And because the Pope has been repeatedly pushing the issue during meetings with Bush since he took residence in the Vatican. Other Bishops below him also have been pushing the issue. They all want a more OPEN immigration policy.
Tancredo knows that that was the true thrust of the Pope’s statement — and that it was NOT just an innocent, innocuous general plea for people to be able to lead “dignified lives” without “violence” — and therefore he called the Pope on it.
Also, the phrase “dignified lives” itself is not further defined — and Tom Tancredo knows that for the Pope, one contingency of an immigrants’ living a “dignified life” — whether that immigrant is here illegally or not — is to be allowed to continue to live that life in the US. Otherwise the “violence” is present and the “dignity” is lost.
Tancredo knew the history of the Pope’s meetings with Bush and of His Holiness’s push for a more open border policy, and Tom called him on it. Good for him, I say.
Of course- IN THEIR OWN COUNTRY- or here, if they enter LEGALLY.