Welcoming the Stranger

 “When an alien resides with you in your land, do not mistreat such a one…you shall love the alien as yourself; for you too were once aliens in the land of Egypt.” Leviticus 19: 33, 34b
Refugees, displaced persons and asylum seekers often live in places with inadequate shelter, food and safe water, a dearth of health care, and very limited opportunities for education and employment.
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 to show mercy to the flood of refugees 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. There he underlined 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.”

Franciscans, we know our call.                                    We are all part of the human family.
 
The human family will have to face these issues head on, perhaps even more in the future as a changing climate will most likely impact 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. In the U.S., we have failed to adequately address the issue, but the immigration debate should go on. This a complex issue, requiring us to balance legitimate needs in our own country with our limited resources.
It’s going to be a challenge for those who have, to decide how much we will share with those who have not. 
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As Franciscans, we know our call. We are all part of the human family. What can we do? We can keep ourselves informed and avoid turning our backs. Refugees International is addressing the issues and has a good website for more information. https://www.refugeesinternational.org/  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, OFS