On November 12 the US Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) overwhelmingly approved a Special Message about the evolving situation impacting immigrants in the United States. “We…raise our voices in defense of God-given human dignity,” said the bishops, who decried “the state of contemporary debate and the vilification of immigrants.” They continued, “We oppose the indiscriminate mass deportation of people.”
Issued at their fall assembly, the statement marked the first time in 12 years that the USCCB invoked this particularly urgent way of speaking as a body of bishops.
This week Pope Leo strongly backed the bishops’ message, urging all people in the US to “listen carefully to what they said.”
Mass migration is a global phenomenon that impacts communities across the US, including the regions in the South where Glenmary ministers. To some people in the US, immigrants represent a problem; in Glenmary counties, immigrants—whether from Mexico, the Philippines, or India—have been a blessing. Many are people who feel at home in our rural and small-town context. Most are settled, longtime US residents who came here many years ago to work and raise families. They own homes and small businesses, have US citizen children, pay taxes, contribute to the local and national economies, and have helped to revitalize the towns and parishes where Glenmary serves.
Some of the immigrants in Glenmary counties have gained legal status or become American citizens. And, along with millions of immigrants across the US, some people in Glenmary regions are “undocumented,” including those caught in the immigration system’s years-long processing backlog (which, as of this writing, stands at 3,432,519 cases).
For decades the US Bishops have advocated for a just immigration system that includes “safe and legal pathways” for those who migrate here. However, our elected representatives have failed to deliver on immigration reform. So how should ordinary Catholics, struggling to sort out fact from political fiction, view the current immigration crisis and the “climate of fear and anxiety around questions of profiling and immigration enforcement” that so disturb the US Bishops?
In the Autumn 2025 issue of Glenmary Challenge, Glenmary President Father Dan Dorsey points to a good starting place for forming our opinions: perennial Church teaching on migration. The Church teaches that people have a right to migrate to protect and sustain themselves and their families. While a country has a right to control its borders, wealthier nations have a responsibility to welcome people in need to the extent that they are able. And human dignity must be respected in immigration enforcement. This Church teaching is grounded in Scripture, our faith’s foundation.
In their Special Message the bishops turn our attention to history: “Despite obstacles and prejudices, generations of immigrants have made enormous contributions to the well-being of our nation.” That essentially American, particularly Catholic, immigrant story is being repeated in Glenmary counties today. We are grateful for the many blessings brought by the newer arrivals.
May we pray for our country, asking the intercession of Mother Cabrini, the first naturalized American saint. And may we turn to our Church and the sources of our faith for guidance in these troubling times.
—Polly Duncan Collum
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