Story highlights Paul Moses: For St. Patrick's Day, Irish-Americans should reflect on journey to USThey should embrace words of JFK, who argued immigrants make US stronger, he saysPaul Moses is the author of "An Unlikely Union: the Love-Hate Story of New York's Irish and Italians," newly released in the paperback edition. (CNN) As St. Patrick's Day approaches in the midst of a bitter national debate over immigration, it's a good time to remember what a great Irish-American Catholic had to say on the subject. "Every ethnic minority, in seeking its own freedom, helped strengthen the fabric of liberty in American life," John F. Kennedy once wrote. As the first Catholic to be elected president, Kennedy was careful to avoid giving the impression that religion had shaped his political views, lest he hand kindling to critics who were wary of his faith. Though it is clear from his book that his Irish Catholic upbringing was the foundation of his concern for immigrants.

Source: CNN March 16, 2017 15:56 UTC