In what frequent Where Peter Is contributor, Paul Fahey, has called “a little bit unprecedented,” Pope Francis released a letter about the evolving situation regarding migrants and refugees in the United States. The Holy Father addressed the letter to U.S. Bishops, noting the “delicate time” that they find themselves in as they confront “the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” – a crisis that Pope Francis says he has been watching carefully.
The Holy Father used his letter both to encourage and to exhort U.S. Bishops as well as all faithful members of the Catholic Church to reject lies that lead to discrimination and any actions that will cause unnecessary suffering to refugees and migrants. He notes that God Himself is “always close, incarnate, migrant and refugee.” He also draws on Jesus’s exile in Egypt to highlight how close God is to our immigrant and refugee brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis then exhorts faithful Catholics to recognize that universal human dignity is a value above any law or tradition that is used to regulate society. Because of this, “All the Christian faithful and people of good will are called upon to consider the legitimacy of norms and public policies in the light of the dignity of the person and his or her fundamental rights, not vice versa.” The Holy Father expands on this idea later in his letter, writing, “An authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized.”
He goes on to say that, “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality” and that, while nations have a right to defend themselves and to reject immigrants who have committed actual crimes, immigration regulations must be equally fair to all people and not favor one group over another. He writes that all regulations surrounding immigration must recognize human dignity and reflect the Christian fraternal love that binds us all together in unified humanity. Pope Francis cautions that, if this is not the case, “Worrying about personal, community or national identity, apart from these considerations, easily introduces an ideological criterion that distorts social life and imposes the will of the strongest as the criterion of truth.”
He offers a final exhortation to live in solidarity and fraternity, “building bridges” and “avoiding walls of ignominy” so that we can learn to live and give our lives as Jesus did, before turning to Our Lady of Guadelupe – who appeared to one of the first indigenous people to accept Catholicism in the Americas – in prayer, asking that we may be united and move forward in the creation of a society that is “more fraternal, inclusive, and respective of the dignity of all.”
Note: The Pope’s letter is clear in its support of U.S. Bishops. This should be seen as its primary focus and intention. However, recent events suggest that there may be a reason that Pope Francis is choosing to encourage his bishops at the present time: J.D. Vance (the highest ranking Catholic in the country) recently criticized the Church’s response to immigration, going so far as to suggest that the Church is pocketing federal money that is dispersed to assist it with its immigration resettlement programs (in reality the USCCB annually spends an average of 5 million dollars more than what it receives from the federal government in order to keep these programs functioning) and that the Church has been disappointing in its efforts to advance the current administration’s policies. Vance’s comments were reminiscent of historic criticisms that have been leveled at the Church by anti-Catholics. Such comments reflected suspicions that the Church is working against the national interest and, consequently, have the potential to set the Church up as a target of animosity among the followers of Trump (who have already given evidence of their volatility and prejudice).
Perhaps more worrying, they suggested that the Vice-President believes that the Church has a responsibility to put the priorities of the nation ahead of its own religious teachings, since the Bible and Church both provide clear instructions on how to treat refugees and migrants that contradict the Trump administration’s agenda. One doesn’t need to look deep into history to find examples of why such a belief is dangerous and deadly to a nation that was founded in the search for religious freedom. Perhaps this is one of the reasons that Pope Francis uses his letter to emphasize that Church teachings on human worth supersede any law that the current administration puts into place – the U.S. Catholic Bishops may be asked to stand firm in their beliefs despite pressure from a government that currently wields unprecedented power and Pope Francis wants them to remember that it is their duty to do so.
Image: “Statue of Liberty Annular Solar Eclipse” (CC BY 2.0) by Anthony Quintano
My Sustaining Grace 