The United States is celebrating the 250th annivserary of the Declaration of Independence and statehood.
Events are taking place across the country.
Pope Leo XIV, the first pope born in the United States, and Zohran Mamdani, the first Muslim mayor of the country’s most populous city, have sent pro-immigrant messages to mark US independence.
While neither Pope Leo nor the mayor of New York mentioned US President Donald Trump, their statements represented a clear rebuke to the president and his hardline immigration policies.
In a video broadcast from the Vatican to the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Pope Leo hailed the immigrants who shaped the US.
He also appealed to the US to recommit to its founding principles and recognise human dignity, regardless of borders.
“In these past 250 years, for so many peoples throughout the world, it was the firm resolve to achieve the noble vision of the nation’s founders that made America a byword for freedom, as the country opened its doors to successive waves of immigrants,” the Chicago-born pope said.
Leo has previously criticised the Trump administration’s immigration policies as “inhuman”.
But in Friday’s address, his biggest so far to the US, he called for “a public discourse marked by moderation, respect for the views of others and an ongoing effort to find common ground”.
“This historic anniversary presents us with the opportunity to reflect once again on the nation’s founding principles, in the hope that America will remain ever true to the dream that has earned it the title of land of the free and home of the brave,” Leo said.
source: commonspace.eu with agencies
photo: The Second Continental Congress voting on the Declaration of Independence in 1776
