DHAKA: Pope Francis told Congress on Thursday that the United States should reject a ‘mindset of hostility’ to immigrants, directly addressing a thorny subject that is dividing the country and stirring debate in the 2016 presidential campaign.

In a historic first speech by a pope to a US Congress, the Argentine pontiff said the United States must not turn its back on ‘the stranger in our midst’.

‘Building a nation calls us to recognize that we must constantly relate to others, rejecting a mindset of hostility,’ the 78-year-old Francis told the Republican-dominated legislature, reports The Jerusalem Post.

Francis, the son of Italian immigrants to Argentina, delivered a wide-ranging speech in English that took on issues dear to liberals in the United States and also emphasized conservative values and Catholic teachings on the family.

The pope called for support in fighting climate change, a more equitable economy, and an end to the death penalty.

In reference to abortion and euthanasia, the pope said humanity must ‘protect and defend human life at every stage of its development’.

BDST: 2241 HRS, SEPT 24, 2015
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