Pope Leo XIV weighed in on U.S. politics, saying that Catholic politicians must be judged on the full range of their policy positions and suggesting that the country’s treatment of immigrants is “inhuman.”
“Someone who says I’m against abortion but is in favor of the death penalty is not really pro-life,” Pope Leo said. “And someone who says I’m against abortion but I’m in agreement with the inhuman treatment of immigrants in the United States, I don’t know if that’s pro-life.”
Immigrants suffer “inhuman treatment” in the United States, according to this expert. Also, millions of humans voluntarily show up every year seeking this inhuman treatment. Center for Immigration Studies:
The government’s January 2025 Current Population Survey (CPS) shows the foreign-born or immigrant population (legal and illegal together) hit 53.3 million and 15.8 percent of the total U.S. population in January 2025 — both new record highs.
(Note that the size of the “illegal population” is difficult to estimate and see also Is U.S. immigration policy a form of animal hoarding?)
Fans of logical conundrums may also appreciate this communication from someone on a selfie yacht who communicated that the Israeli Navy disabled his communications:
Loosely related, “Foreign Ministry: Flotilla to Gaza had no humanitarian supplies” (Jerusalem Post). In other words, the selfie yachts were literally carrying nothing more than selfie subjects.
Finally, nobody can accused JetBlue of treating immigrants inhumanely. From a recent flight, in which they invite customers to watch movies specifically related to Hispanic Heritage Month:
One must be careful in using inhuman vs. inhumane — inhuman is considered the stronger of the two. Inhuman is how the Nazis treated their victims, inhumane is how cat hoarders treat animals.
I would say the treatment of illegal aliens by mule smugglers is inhuman, as are usually the conditions in the trous de merde (pardon my French) refugees are fleeing. I would also consider the statutory rape of children by church leaders in a position of trust to be inhuman.
As for how the U.S. treats people, I wonder how his dual country of Peru would treat an illegal alien who snuck in Lima and started running criminal enterprises. I’m leaning towards inhuman. Also, since Sr. Leo’s other dual citizenship is U.S., a question would be, prior to being Pope, “Where was YOU, when Americans were treating illegal aliens inhumanly (and of course the victims in the Catholic child abuse debacle)?”
Our AI Overlord: The adjective “inhumane” is most often used to describe the cruel or brutal treatment of humans, especially when that treatment shows a lack of compassion or regard for human suffering.
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Inhumane: Cruel, lacking compassion, morally wrong
Inhuman: Not human in nature; monstrous, unnatural, alien (Can describe acts, creatures, or qualities (“inhuman strength,” “inhuman scream”))
Phil:
It’s not my overlord, I didn’t vote for it. You do realize that your overlord scrapes the internet for knowledge, which is like scraping my town’s sewage treatment plant for sirloin of beef. One crowd-sourced human opinion is:
http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/202398/ddg#202442
My A.I. underling said that the Nazis were both “inhuman” and “inhumane”. Anyway, if there is ambiguity, the best thing to do is define one’s usage of terms, and consistently apply them, like I did above.
What I really wanted to say in response to Sr. Leo is (modern PC version) “That is like the pot calling the kettle sooty” or “And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?” But doing so would have made me seem sanctimonious, and unlike parasites, I have always had to earn my way making tangible improvements to the world, not sanctimony.
Have a nice day.