immigration

The plight of the world’s refugees will be solved by politics, not by appeals to conscience or awareness of the tremendous scope of the issue, said speakers at an Oct. 17 New York symposium on migration.

A panel, “Undocumented and Unafraid: Student Activism in the Era of Deportation,” discussed experiencing firsthand the uncertainty and turmoil many immigrants deal with on a regular basis..

The Sept. 23-27 pastoral visit, sponsored by various offices of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and other national organizations, aimed to highlight the church’s ministry to migrants, the border conditions and immigration laws affecting them, and their material and spiritual needs.

Whether biblical lessons will smooth over the current polarization among Christians and U.S. society remains to be seen. Meanwhile, this book is a good starting point.

“It’s a term that history has loaded to the breaking point,” says one theology professor, noting that “it’s important to unpack social justice, especially given our heightened political climate.”

In a Sept. 9, 2019, column for the Boston Globe, Cardinal O’Malley addresses “the human consequences of our immigration policies.” Archbishop Wester in a newly issued pastoral urges Catholics to pray for “hope and healing among peoples.”

About 400 participated in the event, which included a procession toward the ICE building as the Newark archbishop led the crowd in a chant of “stop the inhumanity.”

We talk a great deal in this country about immigration, too often in language that is hostile or fearful. What we don’t talk about is emigration, the act of leaving one’s home.