Catholics have a duty to show solidarity with refugees and migrants, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said in a statement, Aleteia.org reported.
“In their journey, refugees embody the hope we are called to share as Christians“, said the U.S. Bishops’ Committee on Migration.
The resilience and faith of refugees “challenge us to serve others more deeply and build a world in which every person is treated with dignity and can live in peace and freedom“, the statement added.
Bishops in the United States “remain steadfast in their call for consistent protection of refugees in the face of unequal treatment by the US government. The Church recognizes the right of each country to control its borders, while affirming the right to seek asylum when life-threatening circumstances deprive people of the most important right to remain in their homeland“.
As our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, affirmed, the temptation to turn inward, to isolate ourselves from the needs of our brothers and sisters in the world, is incompatible with the Christian vision of the common good, the US bishops declared.
“The Church must become again and again what it already is: opening the borders between peoples and breaking down the barriers between classes and races. There can be neither forgotten nor despised in it. In the Church there are only free brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ“, said Leo XIV, quoted by Vaticannews.va.
“This is a vivid image of Pentecost that I would like to reflect on with you. The Spirit opens the borders above all within us. It is a Gift that opens our lives to love. The presence of the Lord frees us from stiffness, isolation, selfishness, fears that paralyze us, narcissism that makes us think only of ourselves“, said the Pope.