PENSACOLA, Fla. — A letter written by Northwest Florida’s Catholic Bishop on Tuesday is getting mixed reaction.
In the letter, Bishop William Wack is calling on people to have more compassion for immigrants.
The letter comes after Northwest Florida communities have seen several immigration raids.
Bishop Wack sat down with WEAR News on Wednesday, talking about why he wrote the letter and the calling on more Americans to bring compassion back into their lives.
The bishop, in his letter, called out the separation of families and endorsing policies that deport working individuals.
“It wasn’t difficult,” Bishop Wack said about writing the letter. “We were speaking about the gospel and basic human dignity. The challenging part was making sure it was what I wanted said. I had staff members help me out as well. I wanted to be careful. I didn’t want to target certain individuals or anything like that, but just to draw people into another way of conversation and talking about immigration and deportation, without political talking points, but lets start with the gospel.”
Parishioners outside Basilica of St. Michael the Archangel did not want to speak about the letter on camera on Wednesday. Some said they hadn’t read it, while others felt it was too controversial to speak about.
“A narrative we here is that they’re coming here to take our jobs, to take our money, to commit crimes,” Bishop Wack said. “And sure enough there are some among those immigrants who may have nefarious intentions. But the vast majority are coming here for safety and security, financial security for their families and they come to our churches to celebrate their faith for the sacraments, to celebrate mass with us.”
WEAR News asked to speak with Congressman Jimmy Patronis about the letter. A spokesperson for Patronis said he was not available.
His team did provide a statement regarding the congressman’s thoughts on illegal immigration and ICE.
WEAR News asked if the congressman had read the letter, but did not receive a response.
While Bishop Wack is calling for American’s to be compassionate about immigrants, he also supports efforts to secure our border.
“We’re so polarized that they say, ‘OK then I guess you just want to open the border and let everyone in.’ That’s not at all what I’m saying,” Bishop Wack said. “As I said in the letter, it’s up to legitimate authority to secure the border and prosecute criminals. Those who come here to do harm. “