It just got harder for foreign priests to stay in the U.S.

A Reflection for the Memorial of Saint Vincent de Paul, Priest, by Cecilia González-Andrieu

“The drug cartels have taken over our territory, and we are under a state of siege, suffering widespread psychosis from narco blockades,” the local Roman Catholic Diocese said in a statement.

To reach Catholics in the pews—and to influence public policy on immigration—church leaders should make it clear that they are not advocating for “open borders.”

On his visit to Marseille last week, Pope Francis decried the “fanaticism of indifference” on the plight of migrants who risk their lives—and all too often lose them—in the attempt to reach Europe across the Mediterranean Sea.

Advocacy groups, including the U.S. bishops conference, have cautioned against allowing a government shutdown before the deadline on Sept. 30, urging lawmakers to come to an agreement and keep the government open.

The world and the Catholic Church today need to take a leap forward “in faith, charity and hope,” Pope Francis said in his homily at a late afternoon Mass in Marseille’s open-air stadium.

Where’s the modern-day Catholic labor priest?

“The exploitation of migrants is criminal” as is their detention, Pope Francis told reporters in August, and “I am going to Marseille for this.”

To this day, my best friends are people I grew up with on Staten Island. But I am ashamed of how some members of my community have reacted to the recent arrival of migrants.