Pope urges 'brotherly love to the full' for immigrants
By JOHN L. ALLEN JR.
Rome
Amid growing political ferment over immigration policy in the United States and other parts of the world, Pope Benedict XVI today urged ?brotherly love to the full? for migrants and refugees, calling them ?the weakest and most defenseless ? marginalized and often excluded by society.?
The pope issued the call in the form of a message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, marked by the Catholic church on January 18. The message was presented today in a Vatican press conference by Italian Cardinal Renato Martino, President of the Pontifical Council for Migrants and Refugees, and Archbishop Agostino Marchetto, secretary of the same council.