“Our faith calls us to pray, work, and advocate for protections that allow all laborers to thrive,” said Archbishop Borys Gudziak and Bishop Mark J. Seitz in a joint reflection for Labor Day 2024 that was released by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Archbishop Gudziak of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeparchy of Philadelphia is chairman of the USCCB Committee on Domestic Justice and Human Development. Bishop Seitz, of El Paso, Texas, chairs the USCCB Committee on Migration.
The bishop chairmen called for a more just economy that honors the human dignity of all who labor, inclusive of those who are newly arrived in the country, as well as families who have been here for generations. The bishops also addressed affronts to the dignity of children, who have been identified by some as supplemental sources of labor amid widespread worker shortages.
“The Church offers a vision for the future that does not require our society to choose between a thriving economy, economic justice, dignified conditions for all workers and safeguarding the most vulnerable among us,” the bishops wrote, calling attention to the plight of those who work in industries without protections due to their immigration status.
The full Labor Day statement is available here. Read the Spanish translation here.
Learn more about the Church’s teaching and advocacy on immigration and how the Catholic Campaign for Human Development has been supporting immigrant communities for more than 50 years.