NDLON WELCOMES POPE LEO

LOS ANGELES, May 9 – The election of the American Robert Prevost as Pope Leo XIV on Thursday was met with great joy around the world.

The following is a statement from Pablo Alvarado, Co-Executive Director of the National Day Laborer Organizing Network (NDLON):

“As an organization, NDLON does not give opinions on subjects that we don’t work on directly. We avoid getting involved in issues or controversies that are beyond our expertise.

“But while we stand outside the worlds of global religion and politics, we do stand with poor and marginalized people against systemic oppression. We oppose with all our strength the structures of power that demonize and divide us.

“We assert and defend a common humanity.

“Which leads us to say, from what we see so far, ¡Viva Pope Leo XIV!

“We are glad that the new Pope was close to the late Pope Francis, who recently reminded the world – and the United States in particular – that immigrants and refugees possess “the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person.” 

“We are intrigued that the new Pope spent many years working in Peru, and that he has taken the name of his predecessor Leo XIII, who is remembered for stoutly defending laborers and the poor.

“In 1891, Pope Leo XIII wrote: Working for gain is creditable, not shameful, to a man, since it enables him to earn an honorable livelihood; but to misuse men as though they were things in the pursuit of gain, or to value them solely for their physical powers – that is truly shameful and inhuman.

“To defraud any one of wages that are his due is a great crime which cries to the avenging anger of Heaven.

“Whether any of us is Catholic or not, we can all recognize that the Pope is a powerful leader who can defend the defenseless through his words and actions.

“Pope Leo XIII and Pope Francis did this. Pope Leo XIV can, too. We welcome him with hope and optimism.”

We invite you to read Pope Leo XIII’s 1891 letter, “Rerum Novarum,” in English or  Spanish.