This morning, less than a month after Donald Trump’s inauguration as President of the United States, Pope Francis wrote a letter to the US bishops offering what many see as a stinging rebuke of the administration’s anti-immigrant and mass deportation policies. In it, he repudiates the notion of stigmatizing illegal immigrants with criminality and gives a reminder on the infinite dignity of every person.
Noting that he has “followed closely the major crisis that is taking place in the United States with the initiation of a program of mass deportations,” the pope states, “The rightly formed conscience cannot fail to make a critical judgment and express its disagreement with any measure that tacitly or explicitly identifies the illegal status of some migrants with criminality.” With this statement, Francis unequivocally affirms that a rightly formed conscience, guided by the principles of Catholic moral teaching, is bound to discern and reject policies that conflate the irregular legal status of migrants with criminality, as such an association undermines both the dignity of the human person and the demands of justice.
In his letter, the pope acknowledges the right of nations to defend themselves and ensure the safety of their communities from individuals who have committed violent or serious crimes. However, he asserts that deporting those who have emigrated due to extreme poverty, insecurity, exploitation, persecution, or environmental degradation “damages the dignity of many men and women, and of entire families, and places them in a state of particular vulnerability and defenselessness.”
Pope Francis states clearly: “This is not a minor issue: an authentic rule of law is verified precisely in the dignified treatment that all people deserve, especially the poorest and most marginalized.” A rightly-ordered society supports the common good, and thus “welcomes, protects, promotes and integrates the most fragile, unprotected and vulnerable.”
On January 30, Vice President (and Catholic convert) JD Vance’s attempted to justify the administration’s deportation policy on theological grounds by invoking the Thomistic notion of the ordo amoris (“order of love”). He said in a Fox News interview, “You love your family, and then you love your neighbor, and then you love your community, and then you love your fellow citizens in your own country. And then after that, you can focus and prioritize the rest of the world.”
In his letter, the pope offered a substantive correction, writing,
“Christians know very well that it is only by affirming the infinite dignity of all that our own identity as persons and as communities reaches its maturity. Christian love is not a concentric expansion of interests that little by little extend to other persons and groups. In other words: the human person is not a mere individual, relatively expansive, with some philanthropic feelings! The human person is a subject with dignity who, through the constitutive relationship with all, especially with the poorest, can gradually mature in his identity and vocation. The true ordo amoris that must be promoted is that which we discover by meditating constantly on the parable of the ‘Good Samaritan’ (cf. Lk 10:25-37), that is, by meditating on the love that builds a fraternity open to all, without exception.”
While he acknowledges the need for policies that regulate orderly and legal migration, Francis warns that any approach built on force rather than on recognizing the truth of infinite human dignity “begins badly and will end badly.” For years, the United States government has been unwilling or unable to enact comprehensive immigration reform that has made it impossible for many to enter the country legally. As a document from the US Catholic Bishops’ (USCCB) Migration and Refugee Services (MRS) explains, “Under current laws, no ‘line’ for lawful immigration to the United States actually exists for the majority of our immigrants.”
The result has been a broken down system in which we benefit economically from the labor of millions of undocumented workers who have crossed the border illegally. They are often exploited by employers, landlords, and others as part of an underclass. In many cases they work in menial jobs and are underpaid. Typically they do not receive healthcare or many other benefits enjoyed by those who are here legally. And now, after decades of tolerating this system, it seems we are ready to cast them aside as an offering to a merciless but powerful political constituency.
He commends the U.S. bishops for their efforts in working closely with migrants and refugees, proclaiming Jesus Christ, and promoting fundamental human rights. Indeed, many of the US Bishops have spoken out against the inhumane and scandalous words and actions of the Trump administration towards migrants and refugees. The pope assures the bishops that God will richly reward their protection and defense of those considered less valuable or less human. Further, he exhorts all faithful and people of goodwill “not to give in to narratives that discriminate against and cause unnecessary suffering to our migrant and refugee brothers and sisters. With charity and clarity we are all called to live in solidarity and fraternity, to build bridges that bring us ever closer together, to avoid walls of ignominy and to learn to give our lives as Jesus Christ gave his for the salvation of all.”
Central to this letter (and to all of Catholic social doctrine) is the concept of infinite dignity, which is central to a rightly-ordered society that values human life. A society that categorizes undocumented immigrants as criminals or falls prey to rumors that migrants are stealing and eating the household pets of citizens is a society built on lies. This is not making America great, but bringing it to new lows. Any Catholic who upholds the administration’s deportation policies should, at the very least, be honest enough to admit that their views contradict those of the Church.
Concluding his letter, Pope Francis invokes Our Lady of Guadalupe to protect individuals and families living in fear or pain due to migration or deportation. He prays that she may help all to meet again as brothers and sisters, “and thus take a step forward in the construction of a society that is more fraternal, inclusive and respectful of the dignity of all.”
Image: YouTube Screenshot.
Mike Lewis is the founding managing editor of Where Peter Is. He and Jeannie Gaffigan co-host Field Hospital, a U.S. Catholic podcast.
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