US cardinal sees challenging 4 years with Trump on refugees

ROME – Pope Francis’ surprise pick for cardinal, American Archbishop Joseph Tobin, says the U.S. church has four difficult years ahead as it insists on providing a refuge to migrants and refugees during a Donald Trump administration.

Tobin knows well what lies ahead: As archbishop of Indianapolis, Tobin publicly challenged Trumps’ vice-president, former Indiana Gov. Mike Pence, over his order to prevent aid groups from helping resettle Syrian refugees in the state.

Tobin refused and last year the archdiocese settled the Syrian family in question — followed by 52 other refugees.

In an interview Thursday, Tobin said the U.S. church has been helping migrants resettle for over a century. He said that priority “is going to be challenging in the next four years, and hopefully we will meet the challenge.”