Welcoming the Stranger

The words “refugee” and “immigrant” have been in the news a lot lately. How are we as Franciscans to look at what is happening in the world?

 
Refugees from conflicts in Syria, Iran and Afghanistan are flooding into Europe. While Germany and a few other nations currently or in the past have been welcoming to refugees, other nations are more reluctant to take in those trying to enter their borders. This has caused a refugee/migrant crisis in Europe, with debate in the European Union about how generous member nations should be in accepting people fleeing conflicts.
 
In the United States, much attention has been paid to immigration by Republican presidential candidates, especially Donald Trump, who has made this his signature issue and who is currently the front runner in a crowded field. Attempts to legislate a response to illegal immigrants in our country have failed.
 
What does Catholic Teaching have to teach us about these issues?
 
A rich body of Church teaching, including papal encyclicals, bishops’ statements and pastoral letters, has consistently reinforced our moral obligation to treat the stranger as we would treat Christ himself. 
 
Pope Francis implored Catholic institutions throughout Europe to show mercy to the flood of refugees arriving on their shores by offering them shelter. He has taken on migration and refugees as an issue from the very early days of his papacy, when he made his first trip outside the Vatican to Lampedusa, a tiny Sicilian island, to commemorate thousands of migrants who have died crossing the sea from North Africa, underlining his intention to put the poor at the heart of his papacy.
 
According to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, “The Catholic Church in the United States is an immigrant Church with a long history of embracing diverse newcomers and providing assistance and pastoral care to immigrants, migrants, refugees, and people on the move.  Our Church has responded to Christ’s call for us to ‘welcome the stranger among us,’ for in this encounter with the immigrant, the migrant, and the refugee in our midst, we encounter Christ.
In the 2001 pastoral statement, Welcoming the Stranger Among Us:  Unity in Diversity, the Bishops of the United States called upon the Catholic faithful to a conversion of minds and hearts, imploring us to communion and solidarity with diverse newcomers, and entreating us to find new and meaningful ways to welcome our immigrant sisters and brothers into our parishes, schools and communities.”
 
The human family will have to face these issues head on, perhaps even more in the future as a changing climate could affect millions of poor with flooding in coastal regions, and in Africa, where the water table is dropping below a sustainable level and the population is growing.  And in the U.S., the immigration debate will go on. It’s going to be a challenge for those who have, to decide how much they will share with those who have not.
 
As Franciscans, we know our call. What can we do? We are all part of the human family. We can keep ourselves informed and avoid turning our backs. We can pray. We can offer financial support if we are able to do so. Catholic Relief Services is one among many organizations serving refugees.                                                                                                                                                    Mary Higgins
Regional Justice, Peace and Integrity of Creation animator’s team