Catholics are obligated to have solidarity with refugees and migrants, said a statement from the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released for World Refugee Day.
World Refugee Day is observed each year on June 20.
"Solidarity with refugees and migrants is not optional; it’s a living testimony of the Gospel,” said Bishop Mark J. Seitz.
Bishop Seitz is the chairman of the US bishops' Committee on Migration and is the bishop of El Paso, Texas.
“In their journey, refugees embody the hope we are called to share as Christians. As we welcome them, we reflect on our own pilgrimage toward the eternal home promised to us," said Bishop Seitz.
The resilience and faith of refugees "challenge us to serve others more deeply and to build a world where every person is treated with dignity and can live in peace and freedom," he said.
Bishop Seitz continued, "Together with people of faith and goodwill, we recognize the profound witness of individuals and communities who open their hearts and homes to those seeking safety — welcoming the stranger, healing wounds, and restoring hope."
Consistent
The bishops in the United States, said the official, "remain resolute in our call for the consistent protection of refugees amid their disparate treatment by our government. The Church recognizes the right of each country to control its borders, while also affirming the right to seek refuge when life-threatening circumstances deny people the foremost right to remain in their homeland."
"As our Holy Father, Pope Leo XIV, has affirmed, the temptation to turn inward, to isolate ourselves from the needs of our brothers and sisters around the world, is incompatible with a Christian vision for the common good. We must remember Christ’s exhortation in Luke’s Gospel: to whom much is given, much is required," he said.
In his Pentecost homily, Pope Leo XIV reiterated that Christian love transcends borders, as he declared,
“Where there is love, there is no room for prejudice, for ‘security’ zones separating us from our neighbors, for the exclusionary mindset that, tragically, we now see emerging also in political nationalisms.”
