Presented to the Board of Directors
Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Services
October 28, 2004
Baltimore, Maryland
To consider the theology of migration, I drew from two sources: Scripture and
teachings of the Catholic Church. So, what I thought I’d try to do today is
describe some of the theological underpinnings of the Catholic Church’s
ministry to migrants and point to a couple of challenges both of our Churches
and organizations face because of our calling as followers of Christ.
Scriptural References to Migration
Throughout the Old and New Testament, we are commanded time and again to be
welcoming of and serve the needs of the stranger. There is no question about
God’s expectations of us. In the earliest Hebrew books of the Old Testament,
we hear the prophets teaching the Israelites that the test of their society
would be how well the widows, the orphans, and the aliens fared among them.
This theme carries on throughout the Scriptures all the way through to
Luke’s Gospel story of the Good Samaritan and Matthew’s Gospel in which
Jesus tells us that in the final judgment, we will be asked if we welcomed
Him, in the form of the stranger.
In Genesis, we learn that Abraham and Sarah provided hospitality to three
strangers from another land and that this response became a paradigm for the
treatment of strangers by Abraham’s descendents. We see the children of
Jacob become forced migrants, with Joseph being sold into slavery.
The enslavement of the Chosen People by the Egyptians and then the liberation
by God led directly to the commandments regarding strangers. “You shall
treat the stranger no differently than the natives born among you, have the
same love for him as for yourself; for you too were once strangers in the land
of Egypt.” (Lv19:33-34)
Think of these passages when you consider today’s slaves. Hundreds of
thousands of mostly women and young girls trafficked and enslaved in the sex
industry. We’re told that some 20,000 are trafficked into the U.S. each
year. What are we doing as individuals and as Church to liberate these poor
people of God?
For the Israelites, not only were they commanded to care for the stranger, but
they structured the welcome and care of aliens into their gleaning and tithing
laws. (Lv 19:9-10; Dt 14:28-29)
How have we formalized and structured our response as followers of God’s
Word toward freeing the modern day slaves and welcoming today’s strangers?
A rather fundamental fact about human relations is that the encounter of one
person to another often falls into two categories: the way we relate to
family, friends, and community, on the one hand, and the way we relate to the
stranger, on the other. Those who we consider members of our community are
those we have bonds with, who we live, play and work with, who have interests,
values and commitments in common with us. Our instinctive reactions to these
people are positive and open.
Reaction to the stranger, whether the actual stranger or the thought of a
stranger, is another matter altogether. Our instinct often manifests in
suspicion, uncertainty, questions, hesitation, and sometimes even alarm. Just
think about the how we Americans now perceive immigrants in this post-9/11
world. The very term “stranger” is a rather ominous one and the word
“alien” tends to create resistance and hostility. The stranger or the
alien is the outsider; someone who doesn’t have the same claims upon us as
do our family, friends and community.
What is clear from the Scriptures, however, is that the stranger, no less than
our sisters and brothers or our neighbors, is a moral category, demanding of
us certain responses based on Gospel attitudes.
I believe it is especially important to note that the biblical tradition puts
the migrant and exile at the very center of concern. Therefore, we, as
believers and followers of Jesus, can do no less.
For me there is no more poignant migration theme in the Scriptures than that
of the Holy Family in flight as refugees from Herod’s tyranny. Not only did
the Son of God become man, but just as the Israelites of old, He became a
refugee in the land of Egypt.
Visit with Rwandan Refugees
One time I was traveling with a bishop to visit refugees in Africa. At one
point we met with a group of Rwandan refugees who had been barely surviving
for five years in some of the most deplorable conditions I have ever seen –
the camp was in the middle of a remote jungle and had open sewage; the
refugees’ food was limited to what they could yield from the harsh terrain
and the water source was not only limited but erratic. Because these refugees,
most of whom were women and children, were of the Hutu tribe and suspected of
having participated in the genocide in Rwanda years earlier, they were truly
outcasts and not welcomed home and only barely accepted where they were at the
time.
Living in those conditions and having no hope for a future beyond the confines
of the inhospitable camp, I had an image of a leper colony. I had no idea what
to say or what to do for the refugees who came up to us and asked for our
help.
Then, the bishop I was with sat down with some the refugees and after hearing
their pleas, he asked them to join him in prayer. After praying together, the
bishop said to the refugees that God hears their prayers and that through His
son, Jesus, he understands their plight. Then the bishop said what I thought
was the most comforting thing possible under the circumstances. He said,
“Remember, Jesus was a refugee.”
Catholic Social Teaching
We have a wonderful gift in the Catholic tradition; it is referred to as
Catholic Social Teaching. This body of teachings, which spans centuries, is an
attempt by Church leaders to interpret God’s Word in contemporary society.
Pope John XXIII in the 1960’s put it this way, “The Church has the duty of
scrutinizing the signs of the times and of interpreting them in the light of
the gospel.” (Gaudium et Spes, The Church in the Modern World, 4)
CST tries to answer the question, “how does one live a Christian life in
today’s world?” CST provides principles upon which to inform our responses
to the challenges of modern society.
To illustrate the design of these teachings, I’ll briefly review one of
them, Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), issued by Pope John XXIII in
1963. It starts with the dignity of the human person; it tells us that the
person is the clearest reflection of the presence of God among us. It reminds
us that the person is embodied before us as the abiding presence of God. He
goes on to say that as Church, we build institutions because we are under the
obligation of faith to protect and promote the dignity of the human person.
Next, in Peace on Earth, Pope John argues that each person’s dignity is the
source of both rights and responsibilities. The rights are moral claims to
goods that people need to protect and promote their human dignity, claims that
bear upon the spiritual nature of the person; for instance, the right to
worship and the right to freedom of conscience. Also claims that relate to
their material needs; to housing and employment, to nutrition and healthcare.
The third part of this teaching tells us that the basic moral unit for
understanding the world is the human community. Although we live in a world
comprised of independent sovereign states, and these are important, they are
not where we begin our understanding of the human situation. We begin with the
dignity of each person and the social nature of the person, which extends out
to multiple communities in which the person needs to grow and develop as a
person – the community of family; the community of civil society; but
finally, and ultimately, the human community.
In other words, the vision is that every person belongs to a single human
community and civil society, in its politics, economics, its laws and its
international organization, is judged by how well it responds to the needs of
the whole human community.
So, the basic design of CST starts with the sacredness of every person. Then,
it points to the rights and responsibilities of individuals. Then, it calls
for structures to protect these rights and fulfill these responsibilities,
based on the values of truth, justice, freedom, and love.
CST and Migration
Within this body of CST, particularly in relatively recent times, there is
much written on the question of migration. In fact, the current Pope, John
Paul II, has been prolific in his communications concerning migrants and the
phenomenon of migration.
I’ll mention a few of these teachings so you get a flavor.
In 1952, Pope Pius XII issued a document called, Exsul Familia
(Families in Exile), which is referred to as the “Magna Charta for
Migrants.” In it Pope Pius says, “The émigré Holy Family of Nazareth,
fleeing into Egypt, is the archetype of every refugee family. Jesus, Mary, and
Joseph, living in exile in Egypt to escape the fury of an evil king, are, for
all times and for all places, the models and protectors of every migrant,
alien, and refugee of whatever kind who, whether compelled by fear of
persecution or by want, is forced to leave his native land, his beloved
parents and relatives, his close friends, and to seek a foreign soil.”
In Pacem in Terris (Peace on Earth), a document issued by Pope John
XXIII in 1963, the Pope says “Every human being has the right to freedom of
movement and of residence within the confines of his own state. When there are
just reasons in favor of it, he must be permitted to emigrate to other
countries and to take up residence there. The fact that he is a citizen of a
particular state does not deprive him of membership in the human family, nor
of citizenship in that universal society, the worldwide fellowship of man.”
In 1965, at the conclusion of the Second Vatican Council, Pope John XXIII,
said in Gaudium et Spes (The Church in the Modern World), “The joys
and hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of the women and men of this age,
especially those who are poor or in any way oppressed, these are the joys and
hopes, the sorrows and anxieties of the followers of Christ.”
In 1967, Pope Paul VI issued Populorum Progressio (The Development of
Peoples) in which he said, “We cannot insist too much on the duty of giving
foreigners a hospitable reception. It is a duty imposed by human solidarity
and by Christian charity…”
Pope John Paul II, in his statement, Laborem Exersens (On Human Work),
said “Emigration in search of work should in no way become an opportunity
for financial or social exploitation. As regards to the work relationship, the
same criteria should be applied to immigrant workers as to all other workers
in the society.”
And on the more controversial topic of undocumented migration, Pope John Paul
II has said that the ultimate antidote to illegal immigration is the
elimination of global underdevelopment and that in the meantime, the human
rights of migrants, even in the cases of non-legal immigration, must be
respected.
CST Principles Relating to Migration
If you look at the totality of CST up to the present time, there are at
least five principles that emerge that have particular relevancy for migration
and migrants.
- Persons have the right to find in their own countries the economic,
political, and social opportunities to live in dignity and achieve a full
life through the use of their God-given gifts. In other words, people have
a right not to migrate.
- The goods of the earth belong to all people and, therefore, people have
the right to migrate to support themselves and their families if they
cannot do so in their own country. Sovereign nations have the
responsibility to accommodate this right within the limits of their
resources.
- Sovereign nations have the right to control their territories and
provide for the common good of their residents, as long as this control is
not exerted merely for the purpose of acquiring more wealth. In other
words, more economically powerful nations have a larger obligation to
accommodate migration than do poorer nations.
- Refugees and asylum seekers fleeing wars and persecution have a
particular claim and right to protection.
- Regardless of their legal status in a country, migrants, like all of God’s children, possess inherent human dignity that must at all times be respected.
I’ll now turn to a document issued in November 2000 by the Catholic
bishops in the United States. It’s called Welcoming the Stranger Among
Us: Unity in Diversity.
Having witnessed the unprecedented levels and diversity of immigration over
the previous two decades, the bishops were painfully aware of how inadequately
the Church had truly been a welcoming presence in the lives of the newest
Americans. So, in this document they attempt to set out a vision of welcome,
calling on all Catholics and others of good will to open themselves up to see
the face of Christ in the newcomers.
The bishops acknowledged that the presence of so many people of so many
different cultures and religions in so many parts of the country has
challenged the Church to welcome these new immigrants and help them join our
communities in ways that are respectful of their cultures and in ways that
mutually enrich the immigrants and their new communities.
So, to pursue this vision of welcome, the bishops call for a three-step
process that involves: Conversion, Communion, and Solidarity.
The Conversion called for is one that acknowledges our past failures of
understanding and our sinful patterns of chauvinism, prejudice, and
discrimination toward newcomers, and to undergo a profound conversion of the
spirit. It calls for concrete measures to overcome the misunderstanding,
ignorance, competition, and fear that stand in the way of genuinely welcoming
the stranger in our midst. It also calls for changes in the structures of the
Church so that as an institution, the Church will be fully embracing of the
cultural pluralism that is our society.
By calling for Communion, the bishops recognize that we need to strengthen our
understanding of different cultures and to promote intercultural
communications. In other words, we Christians, in order to be truly welcoming,
must achieve empathy for the newcomers. We must learn to meet them on their
terms.
In the call to Solidarity, the bishops envision putting the fruits of our
conversion and communion into practice. By being in solidarity with newcomers
we find ways to act on their behalf. This can take many forms. We can
participate in public policy advocacy, pushing for laws and policies that are
respectful of the human rights and dignity of the immigrants. We can be
involved in services to newcomers; respectfully assisting them learn how to
navigate their new community.
The bishops felt so strongly about these issues that they have mounted a
comprehensive effort to implement the vision contained in Welcoming the
Stranger Among Us: Unity in Diversity.
Soon after the publication of this document, Church leaders from across the
country were convened in regional meetings. After some study of the document
and some reflection, these leaders took a critical look at the current
condition of welcome in their own dioceses. Based on this assessment, the
bishops and their staffs began a planning process designed to incorporate the
ministry of welcome into the life of the local Church, changing and adapting
structures at the diocesan and parish levels.
At the national level, we provided the local churches small grants to serve as
seed money to start things like multicultural programs and other initiatives
designed to sustain a more welcoming presence.
Today, we are working on a program that infuses multicultural ministry into
the curricula of seminaries and formation programs for priests and religious,
so that tomorrow’s leaders of the Church will be better grounded in this
important facet of ministry.
Strangers No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope
The last document I’ll mention is a pastoral letter issued jointly by the
bishops of Mexico and the United States in January 2003, called Strangers
No Longer: Together on the Journey of Hope. In this document the bishops
strive to discern Scripture and CST in the face of the unprecedented levels of
migration occurring in this hemisphere and the consequences of current
policies toward migrants, including the loss of life along the U.S.-Mexico
border. They call for immigration laws and policies that protect the human
rights and dignity of migrants and provide for legal and safe means of entry
for prospective immigrants and asylum seekers.
The bishops acknowledge that while “globalization” has led to greater and
freer flows of goods, technology, capital, and information, the migration of
people has become more restrictive, even as the new world economy requires a
more mobile labor pool.
In this pastoral letter, the bishops set out a series of public policy
proposals designed to achieve their vision. They call on governments to invest
in their people and economies so that the economic reasons that compel
desperate people to seek a life and livelihood elsewhere may be overcome.
They call for expanded opportunities for legal immigration into the U.S. in
order to reunify with families and to obtain jobs. They also call for a broad
legalization program for the undocumented in this country who have built up
equities and otherwise contributed to our society. And, they call for reforms
in our immigration laws and practices that serve to restore some of the due
process rights of immigrants and make our border enforcement strategies more
humane.
Immigration Reform Campaign
Again, the bishops don’t want to have written a nice document that says a
lot of pleasant sounding things without any action. So, we are currently in
the process of organizing a national campaign for immigration reform,
beginning within the Church, then working in coalition with others.
We envision this campaign being a multi-year effort and having several
components:
- educating the public, especially Catholics and Catholic public
officials, about Church teaching on migration;
- creating a political will for positive immigration reforms;
- enacting legislative and administrative reforms based on the bishops’
principles; and
- organizing Catholic networks to assist qualified immigrants obtain the benefits of the reforms.
Closing
In closing. Let me leave you with this thought…
The migration phenomenon in our world today is greater than ever before. In
these times of a global economy, ease of international transportation, and
communications technology that virtually connects every corner of the globe,
greater numbers of people are migrating across international borders. There
are today nearly 200 million people who live in a country other than where
they were born. This is double the number from just 25 years ago.
This, then, should underscore the challenges we face as people of God and
followers of Christ.
I believe the central question for we Christians in today’s migration world
is this: Do we have a “Gospel attitude” toward migrants? Do we see Jesus
in the face of the newcomer or in the face of the refugee languishing away in
a camp in some forsaken corner of the globe?
Then we must ask, “What are we doing about it?”