"As a Church, we must console and peacefully stand in solidarity with the undocumented men and women whose lives are being upended by the government’s campaign of fear and terror. Courage and sacrifice must be the hallmark of our actions at this moment of historic and deliberate suffering being visited upon people living truly good lives that are a credit to our nation. As citizens, we must not be silent as this profound injustice is carried out in our name."

–Cardinal Robert W. McElroy,

Archbishop of Washington (September 28, 2025)



Jubilee of Migrants, October 4-5

The last few weeks have been busy! We celebrated National Migration Week, the World Day of Migrants and Refugees, and the Jubilee of Migrants. During a webinar for the Jubilee organized by the International Catholic Migration Commission, Bishop Seitz shared, "What we're seeing now in the United States is a rejection of much of the founding principles on which our country and our faith are based. We need a return to these principles and an acknowledgement that migration is a human - and not a criminal - act."

Read USCCB's Jubilee of Migrants packet here.

Watch Bishop Seitz's full remarks during the Jubilee webinar here:

Amicus Brief in Mennonite Church USA v. U.S. Department of Homeland Security:

This lawsuit was brought against the Trump Administration by Christian and Jewish organizations to challenge the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s rescission of the protected areas (otherwise known as “sensitive locations”) policy earlier this year. The USCCB submitted an amicus (“friend of the court”) brief to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, supporting the argument that the rescission of the policy has put the plaintiffs in an untenable position: “they either increase the risk to their congregants of harmful enforcement action by maintaining the obligation to attend weekly services, or limit the provision of in-person religious services to their congregants in response to the imminent threat of an enforcement action, and their congregants’ well-founded fears thereof.” 

You can read the USCCB's full brief here and learn about the case itself.

ICYMI – The Cabrini Pledge (in English, in Spanish)

This pledge serves a reminder of our Church and nation’s immigrant heritage and a call to deeper engagement with our faith in response to current events. Together, like Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, we can be keepers of hope. Please sign and share this pledge.

Bishop Seitz shared the pledge with EWTN:

For our monthly Pray With Us series, we featured National Migration Week:

Missionaries of Hope

In honor of this year's theme for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees we will share hopeful articles, homilies, and videos in each newsletter. Click here to read Pope Leo's message for the World Day of Migrants and Refugees.

Bishop Seitz Shares Migrants' Stories with Pope Leo, OSV News:

"The support of Pope Leo and all Catholics is crucial, Bishop Seitz said. 'It is just so important today — in this time more than ever — that the Latino presence in the United States be acknowledged, encouraged, loved, accompanied,' he said. 'You know, they feel so much rejection, so much hatred in the place that they came to seeking security and love.'"

El Paso bishop brings Pope Leo XIV desperate letters from migrants in crosshairs of US crackdown, AP News:

"Bishop Mark Seitz also showed [Pope] Leo a video detailing the plight of migrants, and told The Associated Press afterward that Leo vowed to 'stand with' them and the Catholic leaders who are trying to help them. 'He had a few words for us, thanking us for our commitment to the immigrant peoples and also saying that he hopes that the bishops’ conference will speak to this issue,' said Seitz, chair of the migration committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops."

Mass for the 111th World Day of Migrants and Refugees Homily, Cardinal McElroy:

"We are witnessing a comprehensive governmental assault designed to produce fear and terror among millions of men and women who have through their presence in our nation been nurturing precisely the religious, cultural, communitarian and familial bonds that are most frayed and most valuable at this moment in our country’s history. This assault seeks to make life unbearable for undocumented immigrants. It is willing to tear families apart, separating grieving mothers from their children, and fathers from the sons and daughters who are the center of their lives. It embraces as collateral damage the horrific emotional suffering that is being thrust on children who were born here, but now face the terrible choice of losing their parents or leaving the only country that they have ever known."

Watch Cardinal McElroy's homily here:

Keynote by Bishop Seitz at the 2025 Immigrant Integration Convening:

The Center for Migration Studies of New York (CMS) and Fordham University’s Initiative on Migration, Migrants, and Human Dignity hosted the 2025 Immigrant Integration Convening, Supporting Migrants and Refugees: Finding Hope in a Time of Peril on September 14 to 16, 2025.

Watch Bishop Seitz's Keynote here:

Statement of the Missouri Catholic Conference on Immigration:

"While this challenge is complex, we cannot remain indifferent. Our Lord reminds us, 'Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me' (Matthew 25:40). Let us pray fervently for our nation’s leaders, that they may govern with wisdom and compassion, and for those who flee persecution and hardship in search of safety. Let us educate ourselves on what the Church teaches about migration and the dignity of the human person. And let us extend the hand of charity to migrants and refugees in our neighborhoods, schools, and parishes."

Beyond Borders: A Call to Christian Compassion, A Statement on Immigration by Bishop Erik T. Pohlmeier:

"Decisions about detention centers and immigration policy must begin with an understanding of human dignity and compassion. Jesus identifies himself with the prisoner and demands that his followers practice a higher standard of charity—one that surpasses politics. Each of us must look in the mirror and ask whether our standard for compassion reflects the Gospel, which is built on Christ laying down his life for every sinner. Even when laws must be enforced, charity must not be abandoned. If our compassion falters, we fall short of the Gospel."

Pilgrims of Hope: A Pastoral Reflection on Immigration, Iowa Catholic Conference:

"The Catholic Church has always proclaimed the inviolable dignity of the human person, created in the image and likeness of God.¹ Governments do not bestow this dignity, nor does legal status instill it, but it is intrinsic to every human person as a beloved child of the heavenly Father. In every age, the People of God are called to uphold this truth by welcoming the stranger, defending the oppressed, and standing in solidarity with those who are displaced."

From the parish to the court, sister follows the call of faith to aid migrants, Global Sisters Report:

"Since May, when federal agents began arriving at U.S. immigration courts, seeking to detain or deport migrants, Sr. Leticia Gutiérrez Valderrama has been with them, too, with the intent of accompanying women, children, and men facing uncertainty and fear. In the hallways of the courts in El Paso, Texas, the Scalabrinian sister has helped countless individuals and families prepare for the most feared events these days for migrants in the United States: being detained or deported."

'We are the life of the church right now’: Bishop Chau talks Latino Catholics, inclusion, Religious News Service:

"[The US Latino Catholic Church is] the life of the church right now. Because people see our traditions and our processions, devotions that we bring to our churches, we are bringing the church back to life in the United States. We are a young church here, and bishops I think need to concentrate on that and to continue to form our people, continue to help them to fall in love with the Lord. We come to have the American dream in our lives, and sometimes that distracts us from focusing on the Lord."



Clinic Students Win Contested Immigration Court Trial, Securing Asylum for Afghan Family, Catholic University of America's Columbus School of Law:

"Two dedicated students in Catholic Law’s Immigrant & Refugee Advocacy Clinic (IRAC)—Calypso Moschochoritis (3L) and Christian Trowbridge (3L)—recently helped an Afghan family secure asylum in the United States under the supervision of Clinical Assistant Professor Jocelyn Dyer."

One Church, One Family: Catholic Public Witness for Immigrants:

On October 22 and November 13, 2025, Catholics across the U.S. are invited to join in a national day of public witness for our immigrant brothers and sisters. This effort builds on the binational mass at the U.S.-Mexico Border in San Luis, just 10 days earlier, in which Bishops from both countries will call attention to the urgent crisis facing migrants. Register public witness here.

Welcomer of the week

Bishop Tyson reflects on Pope Francis' letter to the US Bishops on immigration: "Pope Francis pointed out to us bishops the importance of guiding our people in conscience formation... How do we assist them to work through their resistance for a fuller embrace of Catholic social teaching... It's regrettable that Catholics in public life would try to deport those with whom they should be breaking bread."

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