This year’s theme: “Promoting a Church and a World for All”
January 5-11, 2020 marks the observance of National Migration Week in the Catholic Church in the United States, and represents an opportunity for us to reflect on the circumstances confronting migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children, and victims and survivors of human trafficking. This special week helps draw our attention to the fact that our country is a nation built by immigrants and each of our families have a migration story, some recent and others in the distant past. Immigration is about real people who are trying to find a better life and a new beginning. It is about more than statistics, it is about families. As Pope Francis said, “Each migrant has a name, a face and a story.”
I take this occasion to echo the words of Bishop Mario E. Dorsonville, auxiliary bishop of Washington and chairman of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Migration who reminds us that “National Migration Week is an opportunity for the Church to prayerfully unite and live out the Holy Father’s vision to welcome immigrants and refugees into our communities and to provide opportunities that will help them and all people of good will to thrive.”
Pope Francis has challenged people to move from a culture of “indifference” to a culture of solidarity, which will help them to embrace the poor and marginalized, and those struggling to find a better life. May we all join together in prayer for those who seek a better life, working in solidarity with them to help achieve that goal.