In an upcoming interview with 60 Minutes, Bannon accused the Catholic Church of defending DACA, the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, because it has “an economic interest in unlimited illegal immigration.”

In a clip aired on CBS, Bannon said, “The bishops have been terrible about this. By the way, you know why? You know why? Because unable to come to grips with the problems in the church, they need illegal aliens. They need illegal aliens to fill the churches. That’s — it’s obvious on the face of it.”

Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the archbishop of the Archdiocese of New York, has condemned the White House’s decision to rescind DACA as “contrary to the spirit of the Bible and of our country, and a turning away from the ideals upon which our beloved country was founded.”

Bannon, who is Catholic himself, said while he respects church authorities on religious matters, their opinion carries no more weight than any other person’s on matters of the state.

“As much as I respect Cardinal Dolan and the bishops on doctrine, this is not doctrine,” he said. “This is not doctrine at all. … This is about the sovereignty of a nation.”