Pope Francis has sent a strongly worded letter to the Catholic bishops of the United States in which he denounced the mass deportation of migrants initiated by President Donald Trump. The letter also stated that Francis disagrees with identifying the illegal status of migrants with criminality, and called on the bishops “to walk together” and defend the human dignity of the migrants in their country.
“I have followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” the pope said.
He told the bishops 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.” His words seemingly allude to statements by Mr. Trump and members of his administration that depict migrants as criminals, rapists and drug traffickers.
“At the same time,” Francis said, “one must recognize the right of a nation to defend itself and keep communities safe from those who have committed violent or serious crimes while in the country or prior to arrival.”
Nevertheless, he said, “The act of deporting people who in many cases have left their own land for reasons of extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution or serious deterioration of the environment, damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”
The act of deportation “is not a minor issue,” the pope stated. He emphasized that “an authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized.” He said, “The true common good is promoted when society and government, with creativity and strict respect for the rights of all—as I have affirmed on numerous occasions—welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable.” Such an approach, he said, “does not impede the development of a policy that regulates orderly and legal migration.”
He insisted that the development of such a policy “cannot come about through the privilege of some and the sacrifice of others. What is built on the basis of force, and not on the truth about the equal dignity of every human being, begins badly and will end badly.”
He reminded the American bishops that the Catholic Church’s social doctrine emphatically shows that Jesus Christ, “the Son of God, in becoming man, also chose to live the drama of immigration.”
He said Pope Pius XII began his Apostolic Constitution on the Care of Migrants, which Francis called “the ‘Magna Carta’ of the Church’s thinking on migration,” by stating that “[t]he family of Nazareth in exile, Jesus, Mary and Joseph, emigrants in Egypt and refugees there to escape the wrath of an ungodly king, are the model, the example and the consolation of emigrants and pilgrims of every age and country, of all refugees of every condition who, beset by persecution or necessity, are forced to leave their homeland, beloved family and dear friends for foreign lands.”
“Christians know very well that it is only by affirming the infinite dignity of all that our own identity as persons and as communities reaches its maturity,” Pope Francis said.
Then in a paragraph that some sources in Rome read as a direct response to a recent statement by Vice President JD Vance, who recently referenced the “ordo amoris,” Pope Francis reminded the American bishops that “Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings! The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation. The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the “Good Samaritan” (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
“[W]orrying 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,” Francis said.
The letter has been in the drafting for at least 10 days, according to an informed Vatican source who asked for anonymity. He said Francis is aware that while a small number of the almost 300 active diocesan bishops, including Cardinal Blase Cupich of Chicago and Bishop Mark Seitz of El Paso, Tex., have taken a strong public stance on this question, he knows that many others have been tepid in their statements or stayed silent. The pope wants them all to “stand together” and “take a strong stance in defense of the human dignity of migrants,” the source said.
Pope Francis, in the letter, told the bishops: “I recognize your valuable efforts, dear brother bishops of the United States, as you work closely with migrants and refugees, proclaiming Jesus Christ and promoting fundamental human rights. God will richly reward all that you do for the protection and defense of those who are considered less valuable, less important or less human!” He told the bishops, this is “a decisive moment in history to reaffirm not only our faith in a God who is always close, incarnate, migrant and refugee, but also the infinite and transcendent dignity of every human person.”
An archbishop, who did not want to be named, said Francis is telling the American bishops that “it’s not sufficient to put your toes in the water; you must jump in!”
Although the letter—published in English and Spanish and dated Feb. 10—is addressed to the bishops, Pope Francis concluded by appealing to all the Catholics of the United States to take action on the migrant issue “in these delicate moments” in the history of their country. He said:
I exhort all the faithful of the Catholic Church, and all men and women of goodwill, not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all.
He ended the letter by inviting the Catholic bishops and faithful of the United States to “ask Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect individuals and families who live in fear or pain due to migration and/or deportation.” He prayed that the “Virgen morena who knew how to reconcile peoples when they were at enmity, grant us all to meet again as brothers and sisters, within her embrace, and thus take a step forward in the construction of a society that is more fraternal, inclusive and respectful of the dignity of all.”
