“Among man’s personal rights, we must include his right to enter a country in which he hopes to be able to provide more fittingly for himself and his dependents. It is therefore the duty of the state officials to accept immigrants and—so far as the good of their own community, rightly understood permits, to further the aims of those who may wish to become members of a new society.”

~Pope John XXIII, Pacem in Terris, #106 (April 11, 1963)

Immigration is a contentious issue in our contemporary political climate.  Positions are entrenched and unwavering, stemming from deeply-help views.  How is one to navigate this issue in such a climate?

The Catholic Church has suggested the following principles should inform the believers’ view on the subject.

First, there is a biblical injunction to love the “stranger.”  The Chosen People, Israel, were admonished to remember the way they were harshly treated in Egypt before the Lord brought them to the Promised Land.  In remembering this harsh treatment, they are told first in Leviticus and then again in Deuteronomy, that they should treat the “stranger” among them kindly: “You shall treat the stranger who resides with you no differently than the natives born among you; have the same love for him as yourself; for you two were once strangers in the land of Egypt.” (Leviticus 19:33-34)

The New Testament, rooted in the story of Israel, carries this admonition forward.  Jesus experienced forced pilgrimage (as Joseph and Mary sojourned in Egypt).  More than this, though, Jesus indentified himself with the plight of the “stranger”: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me.” (Matthew 25:35)  Encountering and welcoming the “stranger” is, in Christ’s own words, an encounter with Jesus himself.

Based on the Gospel and the teachings of the Catholic Church, the Franciscan Coalition endeavors to promote the recognition of human dignity in our immigrant brothers and sisters by standing in solidarity with them in the pursuit of justice.  We see this mission as one that is required of us in recognition of the basic human rights of all people.  But more than this, we seek to welcome the stranger in fulfillment of the Gospel imperative – to treat our migrant sisters and brothers as we would Christ himself.

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Our June newsletter is also available here.