Office for Social Ministry “Open our eyes and our hearts so that every encounter with those in need becomes an encounter with Jesus, your son and our Lord.” (Pope Francis, 2024 World Day of Migrants and Refugees, Sept. 29) One focus in the 2024 U.S. election is immigration’s impact not only on border states but […]
Pope Francis condemns rejection of migrants
By Justin McLellan Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — Working to turn migrants away from the prospect of peace and security in a new country is “a grave sin,” Pope Francis said. “It needs to be said clearly: There are those who systematically work by all means to drive away migrants, and this, when done […]
Talk story: Delivering a message of Easter hope amid suffering
OFFICE FOR SOCIAL MINISTRY “May the Risen One make the light of his face shine upon migrants and on all those who are passing through a period of economic difficulty and offer them consolation and hope in their moment of need.” (Pope Francis’ Easter message, March 31 Pope Francis’ Easter morning message of prayer […]
Education is key to protecting migrants, religious leaders say
By Kurt Jensen OSV News WASHINGTON — Ask women religious leaders on the front lines of the fight against human trafficking and the exploitation of cheap migrant labor, and you hear less about government programs and more about educating the migrants. “It can happen to anyone anywhere,” Maryknoll Sister Abby Avelino said at a March […]
Pope welcomes migrant he’s been praying for since July
By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — When Mbengue Nyimbilo Crepin told Pope Francis of his harrowing journey to Italy and about the deaths of his wife and 6-year-old daughter in the desert along the border between Libya and Tunisia, the pope told him he had been praying for them since July. Nyimbilo, […]
Religious help U.S-bound migrants stranded near the Darien Gap
By Manuel Rueda OSV News CAPURGANA, Colombia — Jairo Hurtado entered the Darién jungle with all of his belongings stuffed into a backpack. He wore rubber boots to keep his feet dry on the muddy trails, and carried a machete to slash through the dense vegetation and “protect” himself from criminals who sometimes assault migrants […]
Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio: Migrants: To move or not to move
WALKING WITH MIGRANTS A statement titled “The right not to have to migrate” was recently issued by the Vatican’s Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. But what does the right not to migrate actually mean? This basic principle of Catholic social teaching regarding migration sometimes causes confusion because it seems contradictory. Some would say: […]
Pope says Mary joins migrants travelling north
By Carol Glatz Catholic News Service VATICAN CITY — During this “bitter time” of war, hunger, injustice and poverty, Our Lady of Guadalupe invites everyone to open their lives to her son, Jesus, and to learn to love others like he does, Pope Francis said. “The Lord, through the Virgin Mother, continues to give […]
God dreams of a world where all are welcomed, pope says
Holy Father in Cyprus By Cindy Wooden Catholic News Service NICOSIA, Cyprus — Pope Francis told migrants that, like them, God dreams of a world where everyone recognizes each other as brothers and sisters. God “asks us not to be content with a divided world, divided Christian communities, but to journey through history drawn by […]
Bishops blame U.S. policies for child deaths at border
By Rhina Guidos Catholic News Service WASHINGTON — Leadership of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops in an op-ed cast blame on government policies for recent child deaths near the U.S.-Mexico border. In a June 30 op-ed published by The Hill newspaper in Washington, Cardinal Daniel N. DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, Archbishop Jose H. Gomez of […]
